Month: September 2025

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Tiki Time: Part 1

Far away, off the coast of a continent, sat an island. It was a stereotypical tropical island with a volcano in the center. It was nice, peaceful, and happy. …That is, until the volcano shook and something rose out of it! It looked like the top of a demonic tiki totem! It roared and various tiki-themed instruments appeared. These instruments had eyes! And some of them had mouths! The tiki instruments then met with humanoid crocodiles and discussed their leaders’ plans.

Far away from that incident, a London Police box spun through the Time Vortex, its lamp flashing. It was nice and serene for now, as was the inside. Inside the box made no sense as the inside was bigger than the outside. Right now, in a dining room, a pink humanoid hedgehog in a black dress was sitting with a blue Twi’lek woman. The Twi’lek, Lurra Rus, examined a fruit she had never seen before. “Amy, what is this?” she asked the hedgehog, Amy Rose.

“Oh, that?” asked Amy. “That’s a banana. A fruit originally from Earth, then got spread around the galaxy during Earth’s expansionist period.”

“I see. And it’s edible?”

“Oh yeah. You wanna try?”

“Lovely fruits, bananas!” called a third woman’s voice. The speaker then entered the room. This was the owner of the box, the TARDIS. Her name…is the Doctor!

“So you’ve eaten them before?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Oh yes!” replied the Doctor. “Good source of potassium!”

“So, what one does to open is…” Amy trailed off as she saw the Doctor open the banana from the other end instead of the stem! “…Doctor, what are you doing?” she asked.

“…I’m…getting ready to eat my banana,” replied the Doctor.

“No, why did you open your banana that way?”

“Why does it matter? It tastes the same.”

“That may be, but you’re starting off with that little black piece!” The Doctor pondered about what Amy meant about the “little black piece” for a second before she realized what the hedgehog was talking about.

“Amy, that’s just what’s left of the flower,” she said.

“So you swing that way, huh?” asked Amy, with a smirk. The Doctor frowned. Unlike her previous incarnations, she knew what Amy was driving at.

“On that front, I’m pan-poly, stereotypical of a Time Lord,” she said. “And if it bothers you THAT much, how would you prefer I eat my banana?”

“Any way but how you’re doing it right now would probably be all right with me,” replied Amy. Just before Lurra Rus could interject, music drifted into the dining room.

“…That’s not me,” remarked Lurra Rus.

“That didn’t come from the speakers,” replied the Doctor as she started eating her banana. “That came directly into our minds!”

“But we’re in the Time Vortex,” reminded Amy as she ate her banana as humans generally do.

“I’m going to the console room,” said the Doctor.

The TARDIS console room was a big room with the doors leading to the outside on one end and a central hexagonal console with a cylinder going up and down in the center. The Doctor dumped the banana peel into a nearby trash can and checked the instruments. “No unusual psychic anomalies,” she said as Amy and Lurra Rus came in, both with banana peels and throwing them into the trash can.

“Maybe the TARDIS is bored of drifting through the vortex?” asked Lurra Rus.

“That may be, but she’s not fully recovered from her experience on Gallifrey,” replied the Doctor. The music then played in their heads again.

“That’s unnerving!” shuddered Amy.

“Aha! Got a fix!” called the Doctor. “…Huh, it’s coming from Nokiko.”

“Nokiko? From the Mushroom Kingdom?” asked Amy.

“No, it seems to be coming from a small tropical island…with a giant tiki growing from the volcano. That must be made of lava-resistant wood!”

“Any location you recognize?” Lurra Rus asked Amy.

“Vaguely,” remarked Amy. “I know about an island, but…not one with a giant tiki totem.”

“Hang on, that totem’s spotted us!” warned the Doctor. On the screen, the totem spat out flying tiki-themed instruments! The fliers then attacked the TARDIS! The Doctor fought for control!

“DOESN’T THE TARDIS HAVE WEAPONS?!” yelped Lurra Rus.

“IT’S NOT A WAR TARDIS!” replied the Doctor. “DON’T WORRY! IT’S VIRTUALLY INDESTRUCTIBLE!”

“I DON’T LIKE THAT YOU SAID ‘VIRTUALLY’, DOCTOR!” called Amy. “IT EITHER IS OR IT ISN’T!”

“DON’T WORRY! I’M MAKING AN EMERGENCY LANDING!” shouted the Doctor.

The TARDIS wobbled in the air as the tikis attacked. It then made an arc towards the island, landing right outside a high-rise hut! The hut had the word “Kong” over the door. The hut’s door opened and a brown-furred gorilla with a red tie that has “DK” on it looked around, wondering where the noise came from. He spotted the TARDIS and blinked a bit. He jumped down from his hut and knuckled his way to the TARDIS. He figured it probably wasn’t supposed to be buried into the earth at an angle, so he grabbed it, yanked it out of the hole, then set it upright. He then heard voices inside. Out stumbled the Doctor and her friends, holding their heads. “Good grief!” complained the Doctor. “What a mess!”

“At least the TARDIS is upright,” said Lurra Rus.

“Yes, something must have righted it after we crashed,” said the Doctor.

“Well, we better thank them, whoever or whatever they are,” remarked Amy.

“AMY?!” yelped the gorilla, spooking everyone behind them. Amy then gasped.

“DK!” she cheered as she gave the gorilla a big hug! The gorilla returned the favor.

“It’s been way too long!” laughed the gorilla. “How have you been?!”

“I’ve been better,” replied Amy. “My friends and I got shot down by flying tikis.”

“Flying tikis?” muttered the gorilla. He then looked towards the volcano and gasped when he saw the wicked looking totem. “The Tiki Tak Tribe’s back?! But I punched the moon onto their leader, Tiki Tong!”

“Punched the…?” Lurra Rus looked at the Doctor.

“Hm? Don’t look at me,” said the Doctor. “I’m as clueless as you.”

“Everyone,” interjected Amy, “I’d like you to meet a Smash Tourney friend! Mario’s friendly rival, Donkey Kong!”

“Pleased to meet you two,” greeted the gorilla, Donkey Kong.

“And you, Mr. Kong,” replied the Doctor. “I’m the Doctor and this is Lurra Rus.”

“Hello,” said Lurra Rus.

“Well, Doctor, welcome to Kong Island,” said Donkey Kong. “And it looks like we’ve got a Tiki Tak problem to deal with together.”

“So you’ve met them before?” asked the Doctor.

“Sure did,” confirmed Donkey Kong. “The bananas that grow here have a special energy that people want to tap into, at least according to what Cranky Kong says.”

“So, you DO listen, you hairy galoot!” called a grumpy old man’s voice. An elderly gorilla with a cane, a beard, glasses, and a sweater vest then approached them. “I always knew my lectures were sinking in! Now if you’d just take it more seriously, I wouldn’t lecture so much!”

“Erm, might I ask why-?” asked the Doctor.

“And you didn’t even introduce me to everyone!” continued the old gorilla, whacking his cane on Donkey Kong’s head. “Or tell me we have an old friend visiting!” His expression then softened as he stopped. “Hello, by the way, Miss Rose.”

“Hello, Cranky Kong,” replied Amy. Cranky Kong then resumed beating Donkey Kong over the head with his cane and lecturing.

“And now the Tiki Tak Tribe’s back! How could you miss?! You punched the moon onto Tiki Tong!”

“Erm, Sir!” interjected the Doctor as she grabbed the cane. “I would rather like to be in the loop. The Tiki Tak Tribe attacked my TARDIS and I want to know what we’re dealing with.”

“…All right then, Miss…”

“Oh, I’m the Doctor.” Cranky Kong blinked.

“…I’m sorry, doctor who?” he asked.

“Just the Doctor.”

“…Right. …Well, let’s all chat in my idiot grandson’s house. Maybe we can start getting some answers there.”

The Doctor and her crew were then filled in on what the Tiki Tak Tribe was and what their goals were. “So, just to sum up,” said the Doctor, “the Tiki Tak Tribe are an army of living Tikis that use the energy of the local bananas on this island to propagate their numbers and power their forces.”

“The tribe’s seven commanders,” continued Amy, “have the ability to hypnotize people into doing their bidding through their music.”

“But you Kongs somehow can’t be hypnotized,” remarked Lurra Rus. “So the last time you faced the Tiki Tak Tribe, you quite literally punched the moon onto the volcano and squashed that giant totem back into the volcano, then it went back into its proper orbit.”

“…Yeah, that about sums it up,” confirmed Donkey Kong.

“…Doctor, didn’t we hear music?” asked Amy. “In the Time Vortex?”

“Hang on, I have a recording of the-.” The Doctor was interrupted as a red and blue Tiki with a headdress that evoked a Kalimba flew in.

“AHA!” It called.

“Krazy Kalimba!” snarled Donkey Kong as he bared his teeth, something you do not want ANY primate to do!

“Ah! The dratted Kongs!” chuckled Krazy Kalimba darkly as he looked around the hut. “And a human! And a hedgehog! And…whatever you are.”

“Twi’lek,” replied Lurra Rus.

“And I’m not human, thank you!” snapped the Doctor.

“Whatever,” dismissed Krazy Kalimba. “Time to flex my talents!” His eyes alternated between black and white spirals as he played kalimba music!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings The Specials

Gallifrey’s Rebirth: Part 10

“…No!” breathed the Master in disbelief. “No, you’re all dead! The singularity bomb went off and you were at ground zero! That is categorical fact!”

“Therefore all elephants are pink,” replied the Doctor. “Let’s just say Rassilon’s paranoia played in our favor.”

“…So it really IS you, Doctor!” hissed the Master.

“I stand here before you,” said the Doctor. “Come on, Master. Give it up. You’ve lost.”

“I’m not beaten yet, Doctor!” The Master had his finger over the button. “If you don’t back off and allow me to take control of Gallifrey, I’ll wipe the Matrix of every single Time Lord! Gallifrey will never come back!”

“Master, you can’t do that! It’s inhuman!” urged Rassilon.

“No one in this room is human, Rassilon!” snarled the Master. “Spack off or Gallifrey’s death is a permanent one!”

“You’ve forgotten one thing, Master,” chuckled the Doctor.

“And that is?!”

“…Where’s Amy?” The Master blinked at the Doctor’s question, then realized Amy was missing.

“Wait, where’s the hedge-?!” He got his answer as Amy rang his bell with her hammer. He spun a few times before falling to the ground. At that moment, Rassilon and the Doctor got to work.

“Feeding in all data concerning those that wish to come back!” reported Rassilon.

“Transferring data to the Looms!” replied the Doctor.

“Grandfather, the Eye-!” warned Susan.

“Oh, blast!” hissed the Doctor. She quickly finished what the Master did in connecting the Eye. “Romana! Lurra Rus! Energy output!”

“Initial run is stable!” replied Romana.

“Flux comparative’s running at 4.6!” reported Lurra Rus.

“As the original did when it was connected!” replied Rassilon.

“4.9…3.2…8.6…9.5…4.6 again!”

“NOW!” called Rassilon as she pulled the switch. The new Eye glowed brightly.

“First one’s coming!” called the Doctor as she looked on the monitor giving her a view of the Looms.

The Looms, one of Gallifrey’s methods of reproduction outside of the natural way, weave strands of Time Lord DNA together and give a Time Lord a full set of 13 lives. Ordinarily, they would start as children, but Rassilon circumvented that bit and out stepped a portly adult with short, thin, gray hair and a goatee. He looked sternly at his surroundings, then checked himself out, making sure his limbs were working. He then spotted a gold helmet with a feather on top and tucked it under his arm. He then activated a communicator. “Chancellery Guard Commander Maxil, reporting,” he said in crisp military fashion. “Adult looming successful. Full set of lives confirmed. Awaiting orders.”

“MAXIL?!” protested the Doctor. “Why was HE the test subject?!”

“He volunteered, Doctor, when no one else did,” replied Rassilon. The Master then groaned and looked around.

“…NO!” he shouted as he leapt at the controls, but it was no good! He was still too dizzy from that hammer blow and was easily tripped up by Susan’s leg.

“Going somewhere, my dear Uncle?” she asked.

“You little-! That was my victory, Doctor, and you stole it from me!” snarled the Master as he was roughly pulled up to his feet by Romana and Lurra Rus.

“You pretty much stranded me and my companions on Gallifrey, so there’s your consolation prize,” replied the Doctor.

“THAT’S NOT EVEN A MERE PARTICIPATION TROPHY!” roared the Master. He then whirled out of Romana and Lurra Rus’ grasp and pointed a black rod with a hemisphere on top at Lurra Rus while wrapping an arm around her neck. “Now, I will be leaving Gallifrey! I will be taking the formula with me! And I will become the sole Lord of Time!”

“How?” asked the Doctor.

“You forget, Doctor! The Sontaran Temporal Scout Ship!” He was then clubbed in the back of the head with a staser pistol. Maxil then kicked away the rod and put handcuffs on the Master.

“I saw an explosion where the Temporal Scout Ship was,” he reported. “The Sontarans must have noticed the singularity bomb’s detonation and guessed that everyone died in the temporal fallout, so they cut their losses.”

“Let me just check,” said the Doctor as she worked the nearby console. “…Confirmed. The Sontarans fled. And we can rebuild unmolested.”

“I’ll organize rebuilding teams immediately,” said Maxil. “Just as soon as I get this one to the cells.” He dragged the Master away.

The restoration of Gallifrey was taking several months. Thankfully, all the Gallifreyans that wished to come back were restored. The Doctor was busy working on something in the Lord President’s office. Speaking of the Lord President, a Time Lady in white and gold robes with a white and gold Time Lord Collar and a white and gold skullcap entered the office. “Still working, Grandfather?” asked the Time Lady. The Doctor looked up to see that it was Susan wearing the Presidential Robes.

“No, just finishing up one job,” sighed the Doctor.

“And looking to find another, hm?” guessed Susan.

“You know me,” replied the Doctor. “Without the TARDIS, I have to keep busy somehow, otherwise the grief will kill me.”

“Grandfather, there IS a reason I was looking for you,” said Susan. “It also connects to why I’m wearing these uncomfortable things.”

“I’m not a fan of parties, Susan. That hasn’t changed.”

“No, no, just a small ceremony. One I came up with, the Chesterton Ceremony.” The Doctor smiled.

“He’d be honored to know his favorite student named a ceremony after him.”

“Come on, Grandfather,” urged Susan. “We’re waiting for you in the Panopticon.”

The Doctor and Susan made their way to the Panopticon. The Doctor saw Rassilon, Romana, Amy, and Lurra Rus alongside several Time Lords in the robes of the heads of the Great Houses of Gallifrey. In the center of the Panopticon was a tall, silver cylinder with a door in front. “A new TARDIS?” the Doctor asked Susan.

“As a thank you for saving Gallifrey,” replied Susan.

“…It’s going to take some getting used to,” remarked the Doctor. “…Thank you, Susan.”

“Step inside, Doctor, Amy, Lurra Rus,” directed Rassilon. She handed the Doctor a set of keys.

“…Hang on, these are the keys to a Type 40,” said the Doctor.

“Try them out,” replied Romana. The Doctor inserted one of the keys into a keyhole and the TARDIS door opened.

“…You’ve made a newly built TARDIS work on Type 40 keeeee…” The Doctor blinked when she saw the console room. “…That’s a standard Type 40 Console!” she said. She rushed to the console and examined it. “…I don’t…I mean, this feels like…one second!” She then put her hands on the telepathic circuits and…memories of a certain Type 40 flooded her brain! Memories of the greatest moments in the Doctor’s life in the original TARDIS! …In THIS TARDIS! “I don’t believe it!” she whispered. “This isn’t A TARDIS! It’s THE TARDIS! MY TARDIS! But she feels like she was just newly built! Like she just rolled off the assembly line!”

“Technically speaking, Grandfather, she is,” replied Susan. “As we were taking the original ship to be scrapped respectfully, I noticed something under the console. I bent down and saw a new TARDIS heart, then it greeted me like an old friend! It was the TARDIS’ Heart, but newly grown! The original Heart had grown a fragment of crystal inside the console and made a new singularity for its core, then it accepted its fate to become the new Eye of Harmony! The new Eye won’t remember you anymore, but it didn’t want you to be alone, so it made itself a new body and we dusted off the plans for the Type 40! That’s why it took several months! We needed it to be a top of the line Type 40! Behold, Grandfather, your TARDIS reloomed like the Time Lords!” At that moment, the Doctor wrapped Susan in a hug, happy tears rolling down her eyes.

“…Thank you, Susan,” she said, “for making this stupid old buffer a very happy Time Lord!” She released Susan from the hug. “…Are you sure you’re okay? With me running off like that?”

“You do your best work for the universe when you travel, Grandfather,” replied Susan. “And you’ve put in enough repair work for Gallifrey. We’re all quite sure.”

“In that case, I must be off,” said the Doctor. “Amy, we still have a small paradox to resolve and Lurra Rus, we need to find you a new home!” The Doctor began working the controls, then gave a smile to Susan as she was leaving the TARDIS. “…Call me when Gallifrey is threatened, you hear?” she directed.

“Naturally, Grandfather,” replied Susan as she departed. “Goodbye!” The TARDIS door shut behind Susan. With that, the Doctor pulled on the take-off lever!

The Time Vortex swirled in its usual manner. As it carried on, a strange object appeared. It looked like it was from Earth, specifically 1960’s London. Upon closer examination, it was a London Metropolitan Police Public Call Box with the lamp on top flashing as the box spun. Reloomed and returned to her preferred shape, the TARDIS spun through the Time Vortex, ready to bring the Doctor to who knows where and when!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings The Specials

Gallifrey’s Rebirth: Part 9

The Doctor and her friends made their way to the underbelly of the citadel with Trev and his firing squad waiting. “Now, Trev,” chided the Doctor, “we’re unarmed. Where’s the fight in shooting unarmed people? Where’s the honor?”

“Doctor, you’re known for using your brain, a very useful weapon,” replied Trev. “I’d hardly call you unarmed.”

“…I’m…flattered?”

“You should be, because it means I intend to have you executed swiftly! Squad, present arms!” The shooting party presented arms.

“WAIT!” called Lurra Rus’ voice as she joined the group.

“Ah, the last non-Gallifreyan target,” chuckled Trev. “All that’s left is our puppet.”

“General, he’s got worse plans than you! I beg you to listen!” urged Lurra Rus.

“Worse plans? But he-!” protested Rassilon.

“Lady Rassilon, whatever he is, the Master is worse!” insisted Lurra Rus.

“…I can’t believe I’m feeling generous to a member of a species that’s extinct,” scoffed Trev. “What is it?”

“Yes, what is it?” asked the Doctor. “How is the Master’s plan worse?”

“The Master is planning to destroy us!” replied Lurra Rus.

“…He couldn’t even if he tried!” grunted Trev. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves. And accusations are not evidence.”

“Not us personally,” explained Lurra Rus. “Our economic systems! General Trev, do the Sontarans have a stock market?”

“Of course we do,” replied Trev. “I have stock in Imperial Armaments. They make the best weapons.”

“Imperial Armament shares will become worthless with what the Master has planned,” said Lurra Rus.

“He told you this?” asked Amy.

“He was trying to recruit me and the Doctor by proxy,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Why would he do that?” quizzed Trev.

“He claimed that he needed me,” answered Lurra Rus.

“Why?” asked the Doctor.

“Yes, why?” repeated Trev. “I’d love to know.”

The Master smirked as he approached a console and opened a communications channel. He held a crystal similar to the Heart of his TARDIS. “That is not credible!” scoffed Trev’s voice. “He can’t sum up the economy of a single planet on a mere computer drive, much less any intergalactic economy!”

“The Master’s a genius!” replied the Doctor.

“He’s an engineer like you, Doctor! Not an accountant!”

“You can’t take the risk, General,” urged Lurra Rus. “The Doctor’s right. He’ll destroy every single economy.”

“I was under the impression, given your story,” remarked Trev, “that such a goal is what you want.”

“Look, the corporations are bad, but what the Master is planning is far worse.”

“Don’t tell me,” muttered the Doctor, “he sees time and space as one big concentration camp with him as the commandant.”

“Yes,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Can you imagine it, Trev?!” urged the Doctor. “All the factories of time and space producing weapons, warships, armies of combat robots, and tanks! Every skyline full of smoking chimneys, every worker a slave-!”

“Doctor, you’re describing heaven to us,” interrupted a Sontaran Trooper. “The only wrinkle in that plan is that the primitive known as the Master intends to be at the top of the heap.” The Master wasn’t taking that lying down! He allowed for two-way communication.

“I think you’ll find, Sontaran,” he hissed, “that YOU are the primitive, not me!”

“Master?! Where’s that voice coming from?!” yelped the Doctor.

“Twi’lek, what is that in your hand?” asked Trev.

“You mean this?” asked Lurra Rus. The Master guessed that Lurra Rus was showing off the weapon.

“What in the name of the Sash of Rassilon-?!” spluttered Romana.

“I fitted a radio link in that little…gift I gave you,” chuckled the Master.

“What is that device?” asked Trev.

“It’s a weaponized TARDIS heart!” replied Rassilon. “A crude singularity bomb!”

“What in Sontar’s name-?!” yelped Trev. “Where did you get that cowardly weapon?!”

“From the Master, believe it or not,” replied Lurra Rus. “He claims that Romana ripped it out of his TARDIS to act as a deterrent against you lot.”

“So, a President of the High Council of Time Lords decides to play the coward!” hissed Trev.

“I haven’t been anywhere near the Master’s TARDIS!” insisted Romana. “That kind of weapon is immoral, illegal, and Rassilon over there never thought of such a weapon even at her maddest because, like you correctly said, General, it’s cowardly! What use would I have for that kind of weapon?!”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find it to be VERY versatile,” purred the Master. “With this one, I plan to kill a whole multitude of birds with one stone!”

“I knew it! You haven’t changed a bit!” snarled Amy.

“I can’t, Miss Rose! I see that now! Listening to everyone has confirmed that the universe MUST pay for my madness!”

“There’s still the matter of that weapon Romana constructed!” hissed Trev.

“I doubt she built such a thing,” replied Rassilon.

“She didn’t, Lurra Rus,” confirmed the Master. “I’m afraid I built it while everyone was running around like headless chickens. I faked the evidence against her. I believe people in your galaxy call it a…smoking blaster!” He then laughed.

“There’s no reason to panic,” soothed Lurra Rus. “It’s useless without the trigger.”

“Lurra Rus,” interjected the Doctor, “do you know what the trigger to that kind of singularity bomb looks like?”

“…Well, no,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Well, give me that! See, here? Trigger!” At the Doctor’s declaration, the Master cackled.

“Don’t imagine you can defuse it in time, Doctor!” he warned.

“Master, whatever you want, we can talk!” insisted the Doctor.

“You’ve always known what I want, Doctor!” replied the Master. “I tried to change on numerous occasions! I really thought I could, but you were right!”

“Scant consolation!” argued the Doctor.

“It wasn’t meant to be ANY kind of consolation. …I will miss you, Doctor.” He then keyed in a command. “That singularity bomb, on the other hand, well, it CAN’T miss you at that range!”

Below the citadel, the singularity bomb beeped as the Master laughed. “HE’S ACTIVATED THE DETONATION SEQUENCE!!” warned the Doctor. “GIMME!!”

“We can’t outrun that kind of blast, Doctor!” replied Rassilon as the Doctor took the device from Lurra Rus and ran.

“YOU STAY THERE!!” called the Doctor.

“What is she doing?!” demanded Trev.

“She’s going to one of the old temporal mine shafts,” replied Romana. “She probably intends to drop the bomb down there. I hope she drops it far-!” That was when the explosion ripped through the caverns.

The computers warned of a massive explosion and release of temporal radiation. As the alarms sounded, the Master cackled. He then got to work and headed to the vault of the Eye of Harmony.

Thankfully, the Doctor’s allies survived, but there was still the matter of the Doctor and the Sontarans. The group was surrounded by an energy field. Rassilon checked the device that was deploying the energy field. “There,” she said. “That should keep the temporal radiation from affecting us.”

“But the Doctor-!” yelped Amy.

“The field should surround her too,” assured Rassilon. “We’ll find her.”

“How far do the mines go?” asked Susan.

“Pretty far,” replied Romana, “but the temporal radiation will reach the capital before we get there. That’s sure to affect the Eye of Harmony!”

“That’s if the Master didn’t think to seal the Vault in time,” remarked Rassilon. “And I’m betting he’s there with the heart of the Doctor’s TARDIS.”

“…You think he’s taken the TARDIS’s heart?” asked Amy.

“Won’t that-?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“Strand you, yes,” replied Rassilon. “That is until we deal with the Master and make a new TARDIS for the Doctor, but I doubt it’s going to be a Type 40 like hers.”

“What do we do, then, Rassilon?” asked Romana. By now, everyone was looking to Rassilon for guidance.

“What do you think we do?” replied Rassilon. “We’re protected from the temporal radiation, but the Sontarans aren’t. So, we find the Doctor, confirm her survival or death, and stop the Master!”

“Sounds like a good plan, let me help speed that along!” called the Doctor’s voice.

“Doctor!” called Amy.

“Just a second,” interjected Rassilon as she pulled out a device. She waved it over the Doctor, then sighed in relief. “Sorry about that, Doctor.”

“Making sure I’m not an illusion as a result of the explosion, very wise,” replied the Doctor.

“Grandfather, how will we be getting into the citadel?” asked Susan. “The temporal radiation will surely affect things and the Master will have locked himself in there!”

“True, but we have three people that have presidential codes,” replied the Doctor.

“Three?” asked Susan.

“I was made President until Romana was elected to the position,” explained the Doctor. Susan tried to hold back laughter.

“You?” she snickered. “Grandfather, when were you elected?”

“Oh, after that business with the Death Zone,” replied the Doctor.

“…The High Council really ISN’T infallible,” chuckled Susan.

“OI!”

The Master continued his work. With the old Eye now disconnected, he had to use alternative power sources to continue. The Type 40 Heart had grown to the size of the original Eye of Harmony and was now being connected up. “Perfect!” he said. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Doctor! You never understood! It is everyone else that is to blame for my madness! The only cure is to sieze power! Laws will be MINE to create! Not to follow! All of time and space, in the palm of my hand! I shall be a wise and tolerant dictator. Swift but fair in retribution. I shall be the new Lord President Eternal! Gallifrey will be the center of an empire that shall span throughout eternity! And once all is finally under my total control, I shall sieze the next universe and the next! The whole of creation will be MINE to command! And all the Gallifreyans wishing to come back need merely swear an oath of loyalty, then they shall be reloomed into my servants!”

“Thank you for discussing your master plan as usual, Master,” came the Doctor’s voice. The Master turned to see everyone standing there.

“Ah, temporal illusions,” he scoffed. “Well, I’m quite happy to have illusions to be the last images of my old friend. Admit it ‘Doctor’, you’ve lost! I shall be the savior of Gallifrey! I shall rule the Eternal Time Lord Empire!”

“Oh, very good, very good,” mocked the Doctor. “…Just one problem.”

“And what’s that, ‘Doctor’?” asked the Master. The Doctor then slugged the Master in the jaw.

“NOW!” shouted the Doctor. Rassilon, Romana, and Susan quickly took over the controls as the Master readjusted his jaw and realized something; temporal illusions CAN’T slug someone in the jaw!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings The Specials

Gallifrey’s Rebirth: Part 8

The Sontarans still marched through the capital. “Continue searching, my warriors!” called Trev. “We must locate the Eye of Harmony so that we may dissect it!” At that point, his adjutant received a message.

“…Oh, you have got to-! Sir!” called the adjutant.

“Report,” ordered Trev.

“It’s the Doctor,” replied the adjutant. “She’s doing her usual parlay trick.”

“Parlay trick?”

“Yes, you know how she does it. She spots us, pretends to surrender, plays on our egos, then BOOM! She enacts a plan she devised and we’re blind-sided enough that she defeats us!”

“Ah. I’ve taken to calling it the Doctor’s White Flag Maneuver,” said Trev. “DWFM, for short. Adjutant, prepare a party. Minimum number of Sontarans. We’re going to have the Doctor executed.”

“Immediately, Sir,” replied the adjutant.

The Doctor and her friends and allies had to split up for a while to make the plan work. Somehow, Lurra Rus ended up with the Master. As they waited for their signals, the Master spoke to Lurra Rus. “Miss Rus,” he began, “you used to be involved in that quaint little Project: Necromancer, yes?”

“…Yes, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to call it quaint if you saw it,” replied Lurra Rus.

“What were you doing before Dr. Hemlock kidnapped you?” asked the Master. Lurra Rus didn’t know where he was going with that question, but still found herself answering.

“I was talking to a reporter from an independent news service,” she said. “He was working on a story, uncovering evidence that the Emperor was involved in wrongdoing.”

“And, presumably, he couldn’t publish that evidence?”

“No. The Empire killed him, erased all his records, and destroyed all his evidence and notes.”

“As absolute rulers tend to do. …What if I were to tell you that Romana is involved in wrongdoing?”

“…I’d ask for evidence,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Here,” said the Master as he handed over an object. Lurra Rus accepted it, but arched an eyebrow.

“…Wh…What is it?” she asked.

“What does it look like?” replied the Master.

“A green crystal with some sort of ring gadget around it.”

“Look within the crystal,” directed the Master. Lurra Rus did so.

“…There’s something swirling around inside it,” she said.

“A star permanently collapsing, but never fully turning into a black hole,” explained the Master.

“…Wait, isn’t that what the Eye of Harmony is?” asked Lurra Rus.

“That’s correct,” confirmed the Master.

“…And the smaller ones are a TARDIS’s heart, if I recall right.”

“Very good.”

“So what’s the deal with the machinery? It looks like it…can…can split the crystal open!” Lurra Rus finally yelped.

“Calm yourself, Miss Rus, it’s not armed,” soothed the Master.

“I hope not!” shuddered Lurra Rus.

“But it IS illegal. It’s the heart of my TARDIS, a Type 75. Romana never trusted me. The Great Houses of Gallifrey signed a treaty to never weaponize the heart of a TARDIS like that.”

“Romana would just say,” said Lurra Rus, “that its purpose would be used to deter the Sontarans.”

“She would, yes,” replied the Master. “At which point, you tell her that a deterrent would be designed to have no ill effect. But this device is now a powerful explosive and its main purpose is to spread temporal radiation over a wide area!”

“It’s a weapon,” remarked Lurra Rus. “It was turned from engine and computer core into a weapon!”

“Far more effective on people than on rocks.”

“…And you want ME to have it?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“Without the trigger, it’s useless,” replied the Master.

“What do you want in return?” The Master smirked.

“Miss Rus, you had serious reservations about the economic system of your home galaxy and time.”

“Y-Yes?” said Lurra Rus, unnerved that the Master knew that.

“I would be interested to hear what those reservations are. Believe it or not, many think like you, from what I’ve seen. People that command legions of Stormtroopers are clearly the lucky ones, but there ARE citizens dying of diseases.”

“That’s right,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Diseases which HAVE a cure,” continued the Master.

“Not everyone can afford the drugs needed to help them overcome those diseases,” said Lurra Rus. “People like the Emperor or Vader would say that the galaxy is overpopulated anyways. It’s good if there’s something that eases that pressure.”

“…Emperor Sheev Palpatine has said that?” asked the Master.

“Not publicly, but I’m sure he would say that behind closed doors,” replied Lurra Rus.

“He wouldn’t say that if it was HIS life at risk, would he?”

“No, he wouldn’t. Miss Ta…Master, as you said, there are millions like me who hate the Empire and the corporations, people who think they’re synonymous with greed. They destroy whole planets, strip them bare, and for what?! Just to fuel more growth?! To generate more money?! Just look at my home planet of Ryloth! We’ve been exploited to fuel corporations and corrupt regimes!”

“The economic system of your galaxy like others throughout time and space is fundamentally flawed,” remarked the Master. “The corporations COULD be a force for good, but they’re compelled to fight one another.”

“That reporter I talked to,” said Lurra Rus, “his news service tried to highlight all that, but no one’s come up with a better system.”

“Oh, I’m sure they have,” replied the Master, “but the Emperor and his corporations had bought them off or disappeared them like they did with you or through mere killing. That is what absolute rulers do.”

“Changing the economy of my galaxy just couldn’t happen,” sighed Lurra Rus. “There have been scandals and crises, but the corporations always survive or new ones take their place as do the ones pulling the strings.”

“…Are all Twi’leks such defeatists?” asked the Master.

“We can’t beat the Empire through economic means!” insisted Lurra Rus. “Their corporations control everything! Employ everyone! Silence all dissent!”

“I have the means to destroy them!” declared the Master. “Do you know how the stock market works?”

“…Well, a barebones idea, yes,” replied Lurra Rus. “People with money invest that money in companies they think will do well. People take risks, sometimes they’re rewarded, the other times are ruinous.”

“But it’s the element of risk that is important,” remarked the Master.

“Yes,” agreed Lurra Rus. “My father always said it’s like pod-racing; gambling with people’s lives, but in more sinister and subtle ways.”

“A very good analogy.” The Master grinned. “And if you knew the outcome of each race beforehand, would that be gambling? I can predict the stock market!”

“You can?”

“With one equation! I have checked the records for all the possible points in space and time where there WAS a stock market! The formula holds! I can predict the price of any stock at any point in space and time!” Lurra Rus was in awe.

“That power would set a person up for life! It would make you the richest person in the universe!”

“If I was the only one to have the equation,” replied the Master.

“Of course. I mean, you wouldn’t share it, would you?” The Master smirked at Lurra Rus’ question.

“…Why not?”

“Well, because if everyone had the formula,” replied Lurra Rus, “Then the whole…system…would collapse!” Her eyes widened as she realized what would happen to the Empire if the Master enacted his plan.

“Precisely!”

“You CAN do it!” breathed Lurra Rus.

“I WILL do it!” declared the Master. “But I need your help!” He pulled out an external computer drive. “This drive contains the equation, how it was devised, and a small program that would run on even a household computer! Your job is to convince the Doctor, the only Time Lord with a functioning TARDIS, to take you back to your old home and disseminate this information! All news services need to run the equation!”

“But there’ll be chaos!” yelped Lurra Rus.

“No!” replied the Master. “There will be a new order! A new economic model that I have designed for that galaxy and all others! I alone shall be prepared for the collapse of the corporations! I will be able to use the Imperial infrastructure to impose the new system!”

“I imagine it will have to be based on a loose grass-roots system,” replied Lurra Rus. “A network of communes committed to the environment of each world in the galaxy and eventually each point in space and time. Self-sufficient planets but bartering goods if they have a surplus.”

“I have been searching throughout history to see if there is a precedent for what I am doing,” said the Master.

“Not on this scale. In my galaxy, the main problem will be reeducation. We’ve gotten so used to commerce that a switch to the post-economic system, where people only take what they need, will be difficult, but not impossible, to adjust to.”

“No,” replied the Master. “The new Universal Economy will be a war footing! Criminals and undesirables will be put to work as laborers! Those with particular aptitudes will form the Elite! The citizens will provide a work force! The women will produce new children! The men will work in new factories and in the armies! And all surplus production capacities will go into armaments!”

“WHAT?!” shrieked Lurra Rus. “NO! That’s what the Empire is all about! I won’t be party to that!” Just then, a chime rang. “That’s the signal! Master, we’ll discuss this-!” Lurra Rus tried the door, but it wouldn’t open. “Dank Farrik!” she hissed. “This kriffing door won’t open!” She looked to see the Master keeping his hand on a button and correctly guessed what that button was linked to. “LET ME OUT!”

“Lurra Rus,” said the Master, “you are resourceful and intelligent, like any Twi’lek. I had hoped you would be in my new Elite. Please…don’t disappoint me.”

“…Let! Me! OUT!” snarled Lurra Rus.

“…As you wish,” replied the Master. “But please think about my offer.” He released the door lock and Lurra Rus left to enact her part of the plan.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings The Specials

Gallifrey’s Rebirth: Part 7

The Sontarans marched out of their ship as everyone looked on in horror! “How is this possible?!” asked Rassilon.

“Doctor, when do the Sontarans learn how to make their ships bigger on the inside?” quizzed Amy.

“Their Martial Year 76,000,” replied the Doctor. At that moment, the glowing Miss Tarae stood up.

“You…cutthroat…over-microwaved…skulking…potatoes!” she hissed. “You’re supposed to be…desperate Thanakians!”

“I will admit, acting like someone who is desperate is NOT the Sontaran way,” said Trev, “but the securing of Gallifrey is of top priority! Now, with Gallifreyan technology and science at our disposal, WE shall be the new Lords of Time!”

“THAT’S MY POSITION, YOU ANTS!” shrieked Miss Tarae as she thrust her arms forward, channeling the destructive power of her regeneration energy into various Sontarans. As she continued, her face changed. She grew, her chest became masculine, her hair darkened, and she grew a goatee as her shriek became a male roar. After Miss Tarae spent it all, a new man wearing her Lolita outfit collapsed to the floor.

“DESTROY THEM!” ordered Trev. As the Sontarans fired, Romana and Susan picked up Miss Tarae, now a male again, and carried him into the Citadel with the Doctor covering the retreat and locking the doors behind them.

After a few minutes, the group found a place to set the masculine Miss Tarae down and hole up. “Well, this is a fine kettle of fish!” hissed the Doctor. “The Sontarans duped Miss Tarae, excuse me, the Master, into giving them access to Gallifrey!”

“But why again?” asked Rassilon. “They already tried to invade Gallifrey once!”

“They still crave our mastery over time travel,” mused Romana. “It would make sense that they would try when Gallifrey is so weak.”

“Oooouughh,” groaned the Master as he sat up.

“Ah, the ‘hero’ of the hour awakens,” scoffed Rassilon. The Master ran his hand over his face, then realized he felt a beard.

“…I’m a male again, aren’t I?” he asked no one in particular.

“Gotta say, while I’m fine with men in dresses,” remarked the Doctor, “that outfit doesn’t suit you.”

“We’ll rerobe him later,” said Rassilon. The Master face-palmed as he recalled what happened to cause him to regenerate.

“I can’t believe I was so foolish!” he growled. “I KNOW the Sontarans had developed dimensional transcendentalism and their own Chameleon Circuit in that time! No wonder their Thanakian disguise was so ready to accept my terms!”

“How did you find them anyways?” asked the Doctor.

“My TARDIS picked up a distress signal and I followed it,” replied the Master. “I should have known! The Thanakians never bothered learning Time Lord communication frequencies! That should have been my first clue!”

“The Sontarans, knowing your reputation,” said Rassilon, “and correctly guessing that the Master and Miss Tarae are the same Time Lord, simply showed you what you desired most, Master! Like a CIA agent, you acted on your own agenda!”

“With what little respect I have for you, Rassilon,” hissed the Master, “we are beyond recriminations!”

“YOU OVERREACHED YOURSELF AS USUAL!” shouted Rassilon. “I DRAW ANY BOUNDARIES WE MAY CROSS! I AM THE FOUNDER OF TIME LORD SOCIETY! SWORN TO DEFEND MY WORLD! …Barely to have started fixing the crisis with the Eye of Harmony, then we lurch into this new one with the Sontarans! I save the recriminations for myself for not turning you away from Gallifrey!” As they argued, Romana found current live security footage of the Sontarans entering the citadel.

“THERE is our real enemy!” she shouted, ending the argument for now. “A Sontaran brigade swarming through the capital’s ruins! And above our heads, a Sontaran time fleet just waiting for the moment we switch off the transduction barriers!”

“Even with reduced power,” remarked Susan, “the transduction barriers are strong enough to repel any invasion force…well, any invasion force outside the barriers. We need to repel Trev and his men. But how can we win?”

“The Sontarans are master tacticians, second only to the Daleks,” remarked Rassilon. “What must they think of us now? Mere fools! Desperate, greedy children that would sacrifice their safety for quick advantage!”

“What’s done is done, Rassilon,” said the Doctor. “Now we must deal with the current situation. As you said, they’re tacticians. Even with their failure, Stor and his men must have transmitted valuable data about Gallifrey’s defenses. Then they used that data to concoct various plans to try again. By chance, the Master inadvertently helped them put one of their long shots into action.”

“There’s so much happening at once!” sighed Rassilon.

“Grandfather, there’s something I need to tell you,” said Susan.

“Susan, I hate to say it, but it will have to wait until we deal with all these crises.”

“Grandfather, it’s about the Eye!” insisted Susan.

“Susan-!”

“Hold on a minute, Doctor, let’s hear her out,” said Romana. “Let her cook, I believe 21st century humans would say. Susan, the floor is yours.”

“As us Time Lords are well aware,” began Susan, “the Eye of Harmony is the main source of power. The transduction barriers, time vortex monitoring equipment, and a TARDIS heart, are all linked to the Eye. But the connection between the Eye and a TARDIS heart is different. In order to handle the temporal energies, the link is established via the Main Eye and a smaller version of the Eye inside a TARDIS.”

“Hold on, there’s a star in each TARDIS permanently about to collapse?” asked Amy.

“That’s right,” confirmed Susan. “But there was something Gallifreyans after Omega overlooked. A TARDIS heart has to remain small in order to keep a TARDIS functioning.”

“Of course! That safety measure was built into the first TARDIS!” realized the Doctor.

“I get it!” gasped Rassilon. “Remove a TARDIS heart, allow it to grow-!”

“And hey presto, a NEW Eye of Harmony to power Gallifrey!” finished the Doctor.

“So who will sacrifice their TARDIS’s heart?” asked the Master.

“No one needs to!” replied the Doctor. “Rassilon, lead us to Banza’s TARDIS! Maybe we can convince it to let its heart become the new Eye!” Rassilon flinched.

“That’s…not possible anymore,” she said. “Banza’s TARDIS went through the full shutdown sequence. Its heart is…unavailable.”

“Why mention that fool of a general’s TARDIS?” asked the Master.

“He survived,” explained the Doctor.

“But he used his last life to save New Earth from Rita Repulsa and the Toymaker,” continued Amy.

“And we sent his TARDIS back to Gallifrey to be respectfully scrapped,” finished the Doctor. “And if it went through the full shutdown sequence, then its smaller Eye collapsed on itself with no damage.”

“Right now, Doctor,” sighed Rassilon, “the only active TARDIS’s are the Master’s Type 75…and your Type 40.”

“Oh? …Oh. …OOOOOHHHOOHOAHAHAHA!” The Master started cackling. “Oh, this is just too rich! You’re asking the Doctor to sacrifice her only means of escaping Gallifrey!”

“There’s still YOUR TARDIS!” hissed Amy.

“Not a chance!” laughed the Master. “Doctor, you want to help Rassilon? You’ll have to sacrifice your TARDIS!” Those words echoed in the Doctor’s mind, proving how insane the Master really is.

Meanwhile, Trev and his men were still swarming through the capital. By now, the scout ship was empty. Trev took in a breath. “…Fear,” he sighed with a wicked grin. “The citadel is rank with it!”

“Perhaps singing will amplify it,” suggested his adjutant.

“Do you have a song in mind?” asked Trev.

“Just the old marching song at the Academy.” Trev grinned at the suggestion.

“Set the beat, Adjutant! I feel like singing that glorious marching anthem!” ordered Trev. The adjutant obeyed and set a marching beat, then Trev began to sing.

“Sontar, Sontar! We march for Sontar!

The Light of Sontar is why we march!” By now, other Sontarans were joining in!

“Sontar, Sontar! We fight for Sontar!

The Glory of Sontar is why we fight!

Sontar, Sontar! We die for Sontar!

The death of our enemies is why we live!

Sontar, Sontar! We live for Sontar!

Sontaran troopers are bred for war!”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings The Specials

Gallifrey’s Rebirth: Part 6

The Thanakian ship arrived outside the ruined capital. It simply faded in without fanfare, unlike a TARDIS. “You’re making the right decision, Madame President,” purred Miss Tarae, always eager to get a word in. “We’ll put their secrets to good use.” She was lightly caressing one of Romana’s shoulders. Romana decided to show Miss Tarae that such an act was a no-no by grabbing Miss Tarae’s fingers and squeezing tightly.

“I make the decisions on what to do with another race’s secrets, Miss Tarae,” she reminded, “not you.” The Thanakian ambassador then appeared in the doorway. “Greetings, Ambassador,” said Romana. “We welcome you to Gallifrey, such as it is.”

“We appreciate what hospitality you can give us, Lord President,” replied the ambassador. “We just hope the Rutan Host cannot penetrate your barriers.”

“No worries,” assured Rassilon. “The Transduction Barriers are still in operation.”

“We pray they will hold. We heard the Daleks tried to-.”

“The barriers have been strengthened,” assured Romana. “No one can get in without our knowledge.”

“We shall stay here to plan our campaign,” said the ambassador. “We ARE grateful for the hospitality you can provide.” The ambassador retreated back into their ship and the door shut.

“…Something just isn’t adding up!” muttered the Doctor.

Inside the Thanakian ship, the ambassador smirked. “Fools,” they remarked.

“Sir, how much longer?!” complained another Thanakian. “My fingers ache to pull the trigger-!”

“Calm yourself, Trooper,” replied the ambassador. “This is a necessary part of the plan. Once the Time Lords figure out what’s going on, THEN we drop the act. Until then, the disguise is to be maintained. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” replied the Thanakian.

The Time Lords returned to the citadel and rejoined with Amy and Lurra Rus. “…Rassilon,” said Amy.

“Hm? Yes, Amy?” asked Rassilon.

“You said something about making a new Eye of Harmony?”

“Ah, the contradiction in my earlier statements,” Rassilon sat down.

“The Doctor twigged to that earlier than I did,” explained Amy.

“Did she send you to gather information?” asked Rassilon.

“She doesn’t know I’m asking,” replied Amy.

“Everyone has their secrets, I suppose. Perhaps I had best spill mine. The original Eye was found, yes. But it had suffered damage. Recall how we said the Eye was made?”

“Yeah, using the potential time energy of a star trying to collapse into a black hole, only it can’t,” replied Amy.

“Well, the energies keeping that time field alive are starting to transform into something else,” explained Rassilon. “Something that can’t maintain the field around the singularity.”

“…And the collapse into a black hole will happen,” realized Amy.

“Omega left copious notes on the creation of the Eye of Harmony, but I need to find them within the Matrix,” continued Rassilon, “but every use of the Eye accelerates the moment it collapses!”

“How much of a strain was it in using the time scoop?” asked Amy.

“Not as much as the transduction barriers,” replied Rassilon. “And there’s a lot the current Eye is running. The barriers, communications, security, all of it, even when I’ve set it to reduced power.”

“Then we’re on a time crunch.”

“Romana has spent a few lives being an archivist,” explained Rassilon. “That’s why I need her newfound research skills.”

“To find Omega’s notes faster,” realized Amy. “And hopefully before the Eye collapses in on itself and takes Gallifrey and the people on it with it.”

“Precisely.”

“…Well, Lurra Rus is a mechanical engineer. I’m just the muscle.”

“Come now, the Doctor sees something beyond that,” soothed Rassilon.

“She’s right, Amy,” agreed the Doctor’s voice. Amy and Rassilon yelped as they turned to see the Doctor approaching a nearby console.

“Must you do that?!” protested Rassilon.

“Amy, you’re an empathetic woman,” said the Doctor as she started working the console. “A big hint of that is you making the offer to find a home for Lurra Rus and reignite her hope.”

“…She’s not wrong,” agreed Rassilon. Her curiosity then took over. “Doctor, what ARE you doing?”

“Let’s just say the math isn’t mathing here,” muttered the Doctor. She keyed up visual footage of the ships over Gallifrey.

“…Those ARE what Rutan ships look like,” remarked Rassilon. Then she blinked. “Hang on a minute, those ships belong to the Rutans at an earlier time. Before they started fighting the Sontarans. But that Thanakian ship is from…”

“From a later point in the Sontaran/Rutan war, far later,” finished the Doctor.

“A time loop?” guessed Rassilon.

“And from what you told Amy about the strain on the Eye, I daren’t run a full temporal scan.”

“We’ll have to risk a small one,” replied Rassilon. “If that IS a time loop, then there’s an illusion being played on us. And whoever is making that hypothetical illusion-.”

“Probably has nasty designs on Gallifrey,” finished Amy. “But Miss Tarae probably has nasty designs of her own.”

“Yes, so who would backstab who first?” mused the Doctor. “As you say, we’ll have to risk a cursory scan. Monitor the strain on the Eye, Rassilon.”

“Naturally,” replied Rassilon as the Doctor began her scans. The Doctor’s brow furrowed.

“There IS a form of temporal energy,” she remarked. “And it’s looping. It’s a recursive time loop of events that happened BEFORE anyone arrived on Gallifrey. Months before I dropped you off here.”

“But that would take an impressive amount of power,” replied Rassilon. “Power that we currently don’t have what with the Eye decaying.”

“I think there’s something else with our Thanakian friends,” mused the Doctor.

“…If they ARE Thanakians,” muttered Amy.

“Yes, I was rather hoping you DIDN’T reach the same conclusion I did.”

“Doctor, you can’t seriously believe they’re camouflaged?” asked Rassilon. “The only ones who are capable of that are…are the Daleks!”

“Not entirely true,” replied the Doctor. “There ARE a few races that developed time machines like ours, but their versions of the Chameleon Circuit are more short-term disguises instead of long-term ones like the ones installed in a TARDIS. …Then again, there are two that developed Chameleon Circuits that function like ours.”

“Doctor, do you think the Daleks-?!” yelped Rassilon.

“Well, they DO have that DARDIS,” remarked Amy. “But would they use the Thanakians as their disguise or use the Rutans as part of their time loop?”

“…No, they wouldn’t!” realized the Doctor.

“Doctor?” asked Rassilon.

“The Daleks view the Rutans as the least deadly threat to their supremacy, unlike the humans!” explained the Doctor. “But there’s one race in particular that WOULD use them as part of a disguise!”

“…No!” realized Rassilon. “They wouldn’t dare! Not again!”

“Why not?!” asked the Doctor. “They’ve already developed methods of time travel, like the Osmotic Projector!”

“And it was on those grounds that both us and the Daleks forbade them from fighting in the Time War,” recalled Rassilon.

“Doctor, Rassilon, who are you-?” asked Amy.

“Doctor,” called Romana’s voice as she, Lurra Rus, and Susan entered the room, “have you seen Miss Tarae?”

“She was right behind me a minute ago,” replied the Doctor.

“Sir!” called the Thanakian Trooper. “They’ve detected the Time Loop of the Rutan Fleet!”

“Excellent!” praised the ambassador. “And knowing their intelligence, they’ll figure out it was an illusion!” The ambassador keyed in a command on a nearby communications console. “Scout Party 1 to Temporal Mothership, confirm that Gallifrey has detected the time loop!”

“Gallifreyan time loop detection: confirmed,” replied a gruff, male voice.

“Then deactivate it! It’s time to put all our power into weapons! We go to a war footing!”

“Sir,” called another Thanakian trooper, “our Time Lord dupe is approaching our ship.”

“Get me my flag and meson rifle!” ordered the ambassador.

Inside the citadel, the console beeped. Susan checked it. “Grandfather, the time loop’s dissipating,” she said.

“What?” asked the Doctor. She checked the console and goggled in horror. “Oh god, they duped Miss Tarae!” she said. “Everyone, outside now!” Everyone ran to the citadel’s exit.

Outside the Thanakian ship, Miss Tarae approached it. “Come on, my dear little Thanakians,” she purred. “Time to serve your master.”

“MISS TARAE, GET AWAY FROM THAT SHIP!” called the Doctor as she and her friends approached.

“Not this time, Doctor!” cackled Miss Tarae. “With the Thanakians as my slaves-!”

“Those aren’t Thanakians!” argued Amy. “They’re Son-!” She was interrupted by someone inside the ship opening the door and shooting Miss Tarae in the back. The ambassador stepped out with a smoking gun and a flag.

“Oh, drop the illusion!” scoffed the Doctor. “We know you’re not Thanakians, Corporal!”

“That’s GENERAL to you, Doctor,” replied the ambassador as it tore off something from its collar. As Miss Tarae started glowing, the ambassador’s illusion dispersed and in its place was a Sontaran General waving his flag! “In the Martial Year 76,042,” he laughed, “I, Trev the Temporal Terror, General of the 14th Sontaran Time Fleet, hereby claim Gallifrey, its moons, and satellites for the greater glory of the Sontaran Empire!” He then planted his flag, unfurling it to reveal the symbol of the Sontaran Empire as the ship he was using shimmered until it assumed the familiar spherical shape. Sontaran soldiers then stomped out of the ship, more than what the external dimensions would allow.

Categories
Calendar Ssylphiel's Kingdom

Classroom Conference

Let’s just say Bea’s project is…a little odd.

Categories
Ssylphiel's Kingdom The Year of Ssylphiel

A Peculiar Project

While the ladies and gentlemen that made up Coilzette, William, and Ssylphiel’s harems engaged in a bit of school scenarios, it was all just an act. The people making up the harem would see their respective god or goddess to discuss “extra credit”. The only person actually doing something school related was Bea as she was still a teenager. Her project…kind of made her grandparents and mother scratch their heads. Coilzette had just put on her sexy teacher outfit and was slithering to the classroom to play with two of her harem when she saw Bea talking to one of the men in her harem. “So, how much do you say Grandma Coilzette weighs?” she asked.

“I never bothered asking Mistress her weight, Miss Bea,” he replied. “That’s too much of a minefield for me.”

“1,500 talans,” said Coilzette as she approached them. “But very wise on you, Hayden, on not asking me directly.”

“Thanks, Grandma!” replied Bea as she wrote down the numbers and slithered off.

“…Why did she need to know that?” mused Coilzette. She then smirked at Hayden. “You know, that COULD be what helps your grade.” She guided Hayden into the classroom, now getting into the role.

“M-my grade, Miss Goldcoil?” asked Hayden, doing the same.

William had brought out the glasses for his teacher getup. He overheard that the glasses enhanced his physique as well as the turtleneck sweater that left little to the imagination when it came to his muscles. He tutted when he spoke with the student in this scenario. “I must say, I’m disappointed,” he said as he brought out a report card. “A D in your math class? Shame, shame, Bobby.”

“But Mr. Goldcoil,” replied Bobby, “I need to pass this class! What can I do?!” Before William could answer, there was a knock on the door. The two men growled.

“Never fails!” grumbled William. “One sec, I need to take this.” He opened the classroom door to reveal Bea.

“Sorry to interrupt, Grandpa, but I need to speak with Bobby, given his background,” explained Bea.

“My background?” asked Bobby.

“As a hunter. Bobby, how many anchor points would be needed to hold down an angry 1,500 talan animal?”

“Depends on the animal, but about 13 anchor points ought to do you if you got the right magic rope.”

“Thanks!” Bea slithered off.

“…You know, my brother Hayden said she asked your wife about her weight for some odd reason,” remarked Bobby.

“And Coilzette IS 1,500 talans, so Bea is being oddly specific,” said William. He then resumed the act. “Now, if you applied that kind of reasoning to your math, you might be passing by now.”

Ssylphiel and her student, Beth, had had a wild time of extra credit. Their clothes were disheveled and Ssylphiel managed to keep her glasses on. “My, my,” she cooed. “You were eager to get extra credit. Keep seeing me after school and your grade will be a nice, fat A.”

“Th-Thank you, Miss Goldcoil!” panted Beth. They then heard a knock.

“Must be another student,” purred Ssylphiel. “You wait right there.” She checked through the door’s window…and saw Bea. She poked her head out. “Bea, what are you doing here?” she hissed.

“Sorry, Mama, but I need to speak to you or Beth about interrogation,” replied Bea.

“Interrogation?” asked Ssylphiel. “…You know what, come on in.” She let Bea into the room.

“Miss Bea!” yelped Beth.

“Just getting some answers,” said Bea. “Beth, Mama, you two did interrogations together, right?”

“During the war with Orkalist, yes,” replied Beth. “Your mother did the interrogation, and I did the aftercare.”

“Perfect! What’s the maximum amount of time you can interrogate someone?” asked Bea.

“Interrogations were never conducted with the safety of the subject in mind,” answered Beth.

“Ah! THAT is good to know! I’ll just find the right whip and-!”

“Bea!” barked Ssylphiel.

“Yes, Mama?”

“What’s going on here?! You asked Grandma Coilzette how much she weighed, you asked a member of Grandpa William’s harem about anchor points, now you asked me and Beth about interrogation! Is this what you decided your school project is? Because if so, you need to pick something more SFW, especially for a public-school setting!”

“Oh, no!” replied Bea. “This is personal stuff concerning a 1,000 talan Troll classmate of mine. He decided it would be funny to put more than the necessary salt in my cookies and I’m just trying to let him know that what he did wasn’t a good idea.” She created a small lightning orb and wiggled her eyebrows. As she slithered out, Ssylphiel and Beth stared in shock.

“…The more I raise her,” muttered Ssylphiel, “the more I learn how sadistic a bunny person can be.”

“Well, we all learned something today,” remarked Beth. “Cookies are off limits concerning pranking her.”