Month: October 2025

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Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

The Twisting Mind: Part 4

The Doctor, Amy, and Lurra woke up to see what looked like a circus around them. “What the?” asked Amy. “Why a circus?”

“The Aquato Family Circus,” replied the Doctor. “That’s where Raz was born. They once believed that a curse was placed upon them by a rival family with psychics that they would die in water, so they initially grew to dislike psychics, but now things are slowly turning different, what with there being four psychics in the family. Five if you count Lucretia.”

“COME ONE, COME ALL!” called Raz’s voice. Everyone turned to see him dressed in a ringmaster costume! “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Great Fiery Circus!” A ring of fire then appeared!

“Oh dear,” muttered the Doctor.

“And I see from the crowd that we have new volunteers! Welcome, ladies!” said Ringmaster Raz.

“Volunteers?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Yes, my dear! You seem like a fine juggler!” Ringmaster Raz then turned to Amy. “And you would be a perfect Strongwoman!” He finished with the Doctor. “And your tightrope skills would be perfect!”

“Hold on, what about the actual juggler, strongman, and tightrope walker?!” yelped the Doctor.

“Ah, those three are still in their tents!” scoffed Ringmaster Raz. “Unless you can convince those do-nothings to get back to work, you three will have to do.”

“I rather think we’re going to make for poor substitutes,” replied the Doctor. “Lurra, see if you can convince the juggler. Amy, you take care of the strongman. I’ll talk to the tightrope walker.”

The entrances to each person’s tent were easy to find. It was dealing with the Censors that proved hard. Amy went into the strongman’s tent to find a strongman version of Raz trying to lift a 1,000 pound barbell over his head. “Come on!” strained Strongman Raz. “I can do this!”

“Erm, sir,” asked Amy, “can I help you?”

“Unless you can help me lift this thing, I doubt it!” replied Strongman Raz. Amy looked the barbell over and saw…well, symbols that she couldn’t make out.

“Are these from the Aquato Circus?” asked Amy.

“No, they’re a proprietary circus language,” answered Strongman Raz. “I don’t get it! I could lift this before!”

“Can I at least touch it?” quizzed Amy.

“Be my guest,” sighed Strongman Raz. Amy touched the barbell…and the voices of various people flooded her brain.

“Keep up the family name, son!” said one.

“We have a tradition to uphold!” said another. Amy then took her hand off and realized why it’s so heavy.

“Those…are quite heavy expectations,” she said.

“I could carry them on my pinky just fine! Why can’t I lift them now?!” snarled Strongman Raz.

“Raz, aren’t there psychics in your family as well?” quizzed Amy.

“Yes, but-.”

“And aren’t there psychic moments in your acts these days?”

“Yes, but again-.”

“And didn’t someone ever say they were proud of you for being what you are?” Strongman Raz opened his mouth…then he remembered something.

“…Dad,” he said. “He and I are-.”

“Son!” called a voice. The two turned to see a lanky man with a beard, a scar on his right eye, and scruffy hair.

“Dad?!” yelped Strongman Raz. “…Wait, are you-?”

“No, son, I’m not the real Augustus Aquato,” replied the man. “But I AM the one you look up to. I know we put a lot on you as an Aquato Acrobat, but I want you to know that I am proud of you being a Psychonaut.”

“Y-You are?” asked Strongman Raz.

“Don’t be weighed down by what-if’s, son. If you DID stay with the circus, I doubt we’d be working on our relationship.” Strongman Raz considered, then he looked at the Barbell. He tried lifting it with two hands…and raised it above his head! He even tested keeping it above his head with his pinky!

“I DID IT!” he cheered.

“That’s my boy!” cheered the illusion of Augustus!

“I gotta go!” Strongman Raz said to Amy and the illusion of his dad. “The Ringmaster’s got a show ready and I’m NOT gonna miss my act!” He left his tent with the barbell in his hand. Augustus faded and Amy smiled.

“All right, you two,” she said to herself, “it’s all on you!”

Lurra Rus arrived at the Juggler’s tent to see a version of Raz trying to juggle but missing and clonking his head. “Raz!” yelped Lurra Rus.

“Hey, lady, if you don’t mind!” hissed Juggler Raz. “I’m trying to practice here!” Lurra Rus looked at the bowling pins he was trying to juggle.

“Erm, shouldn’t you start small?” she asked.

“Come on, that’s too easy!” replied Juggler Raz. Lurra Rus lifted a bowling pin and noticed a face on it.

“…That’s Sasha on it,” she said. She looked at another. “…Who’s the old lady? And why does this one have a younger lady with a serpent hood?”

“That’s my Nona, thank you very much!” hissed Juggler Raz. Lurra Rus developed a theory.

“…You’re juggling all these,” she said, “but you’re forgetting yourself.”

“Huh?” asked Juggler Raz. Lurra Rus looked around the tent and found three small balls. She examined the faces on them and saw that they all had Raz’s face.

“AHA!” she cheered. “These should do for a starting point!”

“Miss, what-?”

“Raz, you managed to juggle everyone’s emotions to try and reach a happy ending for everyone, and that’s a laudable goal, but you can’t make everyone happy. Not until you can juggle your own emotions. Come on. Humor me and start small.” Juggler Raz arched an eyebrow, then he humored her. First he started with tossing one ball, then he tossed two, then he moved up to three. Soon, he was juggling like a pro and practiced for a while.

“…Lady, toss me that bowling pin with Nona,” he said. Lurra Rus did so. Juggler Raz altered his grip when he needed to catch the bowling pin. “…Okay, now the one with Sasha!” he called. Lurra Rus did so and Juggler Raz was now juggling like a pro. “Okay, last bowling pin!” he called. Lurra Rus tossed him the last bowling pin with his father’s face on it. By now, he was juggling all the balls and the pins without dropping one! “GOT IT!” he cheered. He then caught them all, balls in one hand and pins in the other. “I gotta get back to the big top! I’ve got the perfect idea for a new act! Later!” Juggler Raz rushed off.

“Break a leg!” called Lurra Rus.

The Doctor had to fight off a few Censors in order to get to the Tightrope Walker’s tent. When she entered, she saw Raz in a tightrope walker’s outfit trying to walk across a low tightrope and falling off it. “Oh dear,” she said. “Need some help?”

“I don’t understand!” complained Tightrope Raz. “I’ve done this before! Why is it hard now?!” The Doctor looked at the practice mat and saw symbols relating to what Norma said.

“Oh dear, Norma really affected you, hasn’t she?” she sighed.

“It’s like I have to choose between keeping Nona happy or telling the outside world what really happened to Grulovia!” grumbled Tightrope Raz.

“Last I heard, tightrope walkers don’t look down,” mused the Doctor. “They generally look straight ahead.” Tightrope Raz blinked.

“Look ahead?” he muttered. He then smacked his forehead. “Look ahead at the goals, of course!” he grumbled to himself. “How could I forget that?” He then got back up and tried again, this time focusing on the path ahead instead of what was below him. It took a while…but he made it to the other side! He tried again, setting the rope higher…higher…higher…until he proved he could walk any height! “YES!” he cheered! “I better get back to the Big Top! There’s a show tonight and I gotta be in it!” Tightrope Raz then left. The Doctor followed him and saw Ringmaster Raz talking to the other three.

“You mean you boys are coming back on?!” asked Ringmaster Raz.

“Stage fright, that’s all,” replied Strongman Raz.

“Those ladies really know how to get a guy going!” said Juggler Raz as he pointed out the Doctor and her friends.

“Ladies, the Great Fiery Circus is in your debt!” said Ringmaster Raz. “Come on, my friends! There’s a lot of work to do!” As Ringmaster Raz led his fellows to the big top, the scenery melted away.

Everyone woke up in the real world. The Psycho-portal closed and Raz took it off his head. “A pity we had to miss the show,” said the Doctor.

“I think most people would prefer a real circus anyways,” replied Raz as he put his goggles back onto his head.

“Razputin, are you all right?” asked Sasha.

“Much better now, Agent Nein,” replied Raz. “Did you or Milla ever have to enter one another’s mind?”

“Of course,” answered Sasha. “We look out for each other. And you asking for and accepting help is exactly what Psychonauts do for one another. We look out for one another’s mental health.”

“Good. I think we need to check on Norma’s mental health. See why she lashed out like that.”

“Agreed. Doctor, are you and your friends coming?” The Doctor checked her sonic screwdriver.

“…I don’t think you need our help anymore,” she said. “My TARDIS is saying that the psychic energy that will come from the Grouping will be at a more manageable state. Just keep an eye on Raz. An empath like him is quite the asset to not only the Psychonauts, but mental health in general.”

“Wait, I’m an EMPATH?!” yelped Raz, surprised. “No wonder I feel like I can feel others’ emotions!”

“I’ll be keeping my eye on you, Raz,” said the Doctor. “Come on, you two. We still have some preparations to make.” The Doctor took her friends back to the TARDIS and off they went!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

The Twisting Mind: Part 3

“Hold on, that’s Norma’s brain?” asked Lurra Rus. “Gristol, what was the endgame in putting her brain inside a mech like that?”

“And how did you shake down Coach Oleander like that?!” asked Raz.

“I was supposed to use her to sabotage the Psychonauts!” replied Gristol. “She took control of the plan!”

“Well, Grulovia and its people ARE supposed to be dead,” said Norma. “And all I needed were the plans to his brain tanks, Raz. I simply…modified the design!”

“Okay, Doctor spinning uselessly in the Time Vortex here,” said the Doctor. “What’s going on?”

“My first bit of Psychonauts business,” explained Raz, “involved Coach Oleander using military stuff to bury his childhood trauma of seeing a bunny slaughtered by his dad. That was never addressed until two weeks ago when he was making tanks powered by fighters’ brains that could take over the world with psychic powers. I helped him address that trauma and I also addressed trauma that stemmed from what Dad said to me and now Coach is undergoing a mental evaluation. That whole thing is where I fell under the influence of the sneezing powder.”

“I see,” remarked the Doctor.

“She was supposed to help me restore Grulovia! To make all psychics compliant!” wailed Gristol.

“And I’m supposed to obey the whims of a prince of a dead nation?” scoffed Norma.

“Look, Norma,” called Raz, “I don’t know what this is all about, but we need to put Gristol Malik back in Psychoisolation so the Hague’s Psi division can try him!”

“You think they can convict him?” asked Norma.

“Norma, we’re not executioners!” called Sasha. “We help others deal with their inner demons without totally dealing with them ourselves!”

“And that’s the law?” scoffed Norma. “We’re blunted, Agent Nein. We have the power to take care of any villains before they rise! You think Oleander wasn’t thinking about that when he made the brain tanks?!”

“He wasn’t!” argued Raz. “He was only thinking about how he’d finally see some military action despite his height!”

“Well, guess who’s actually doing something about it!” retorted Norma. “Welcome to the new battlefield! You old guard right down to Raz vs. the new generation and I WILL achieve victory!”

“Miss Norma, are you really THAT paranoid about evil rising?” asked the Doctor.

“Let me answer your questions with one of my own,” replied Norma. “By what tortured logic did the Grand Head and the Psychic Six conclude that letting people like Gristol Malik or Lucretia Mux avoid real justice represented anything other than an insult to the memory of Grulovia and its people?! Seriously, can anyone explain to me how those unrepentant murderers can go about their business as if nothing happened?! The orders of keeping the status quo, the quelling of peaceful protestors, the flooding of an entire country, apparently, they were all missteps on the Gzesarevich and Maligula’s path of redemption!”

“Look, I get it!” called Raz. “When I heard about Nona’s past and what Ford did to lock it away, I was furious-!”

“And now look at you! Letting Ford date Lucretia again as if nothing happened! And not just Raz! All of you! What are you, the Grulovian Entourage!? By helping those maniacs find peace, you’re excusing their past behavior! And it falls to me, a representative of the 99%, to remind you how wrong this is! Forgiveness? Rehabilitation? Reintegration? No. Not Mux, not Malik, not now, not ever!” Norma raised her now metallic arm, ready to strike…but something shook. “What the-?!” She couldn’t finish her sentence before the legs of the mech fell apart! The arms automatically shielded the brain container as the mech fell. “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!” demanded Norma.

“Hang on, where’s the Doctor?!” yelped Raz.

“Tinkering as usual!” called the Doctor as she stepped out from behind the mech and twirled the sonic screwdriver in her fingers.

“…So it IS a screwdriver,” remarked Amy.

“Of course!” replied the Doctor. “I told you, sometimes you have to assemble a bunch of cabinets!”

“What’s going on?!” yelped Norma. “I can’t move!”

“I also disabled the synapse circuits,” continued the Doctor. “That mech’s nothing more than a hunk of junk.” She then checked the readings on the screwdriver. “…Although, the TARDIS is still saying there’s a mental crisis somewhere and…Raz?” The Doctor noticed that Raz’s fist was trembling.

“Oh no!” yelped Sasha. “Raz’s mental energy is spiking!”

“Doctor, didn’t Raz say that Lucretia Mux was his Nona?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“Oh my word!” realized the Doctor. “He’s blisteringly angry! And Norma’s attack must have exacerbated it!”

“We can’t help him at this state!” warned Sasha. “We need him to release his anger somehow!”

“You Psychonauts can make psi-blasts, yes?” asked the Doctor.

“Yes, an excellent idea,” replied Sasha. “Razputin, listen. I need you to put your marksmanship training to use! Psi-blast…that tree right there!”

“The tree?!” hissed Raz. “After what Norma did, you want me to settle for a tree?!”

“But she didn’t follow through with it!” urged the Doctor.

“She was going to!” argued Raz.

“Razputin, this isn’t you! You’re not an executioner! You’re not Gristol! You’re not Norma!” Raz growled…then fired the biggest blast of mental energy he ever created at a few trees. Raz then sighed, still angry though.

“Just get Norma back into her body!” he snarled as he stomped off. Gristol tried to get away, but a hammer belonging to a certain pink hedgehog stopped him.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going?” asked Amy as Sasha made a few calls.

Over the next few days, the Doctor observed Raz as he went about his day. The events Norma started clearly affected the poor boy. She headed to Sasha’s lab…and noticed that Amy and Lurra Rus were there. “…Erm, Agent Nein, what are you doing?” asked the Doctor.

“It’s all right, Doctor,” assured Amy. “I asked him to check if summoning my hammer is a psychic ability.”

“I’ve known of other people able to pull objects seemingly out of nowhere,” explained Sasha. “But to test whether or not it’s a psychic ability has eluded me.”

“And?” asked the Doctor.

“…Both Amy AND Lurra Rus have psychic abilities,” answered Sasha. “Hammerspace, sub-space pockets, bag of holding, whatever, Amy uses her mental energy to tap into it and summon her hammer. As for Lurra Rus, it seems the mental energy here at the Motherlobe has energized telekinetic abilities that were buried deep in her bloodline.”

“It’s true! Watch!” Lurra Rus raised her hand and made a tool from the other end of the room float all the way to her hand!

“…You know, I think I can teach you all the mental martial arts of Gallifrey,” mused the Doctor. “Really helped me when I was learning Venusian Aikido. You two seem to be in the right mental state for it and may need it for the Grouping. …Speaking of mental states, I came here to discuss Raz.”

“You’ve noticed his current withdrawn state as well, hm?” asked Sasha. “Even after facing Maligula, he kept up his outgoing optimism. What is it about what Norma said that caused him to withdraw?”

“I think I need to find out,” replied the Doctor. “Let’s just say I’m making a house call.”

“We should go with you!” said Amy.

“Amy-!” protested the Doctor.

“Doctor, we might be able to help him,” interjected Lurra Rus.

“And, to my knowledge, this is your first time entering a psycho-portal,” continued Sasha. “I’ll need to monitor your vitals and Amy and Lurra could help you better in Razputin’s mind. You seem to do your best work with people helping you.” The Doctor considered for a moment.

“…You know, you’re right,” she admitted. “All right, you two, you can come. But stay close to me.”

The Doctor, her friends, and Sasha found Raz trying to create a levitation ball, but failing. “Come on!” he complained. “Agent Vodello herself taught me! Don’t let the Mental Minx down!”

“Razputin!” called Sasha. Raz turned to see the group.

“Oh, Agent Nein!” he said. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I-! …Wait, what’s this about?”

“Raz,” said the Doctor, “we believe that what Norma said to you has affected you.”

“…She wanted to kill my Nona!” growled Raz. “I just-!” The poor boy snarled. “…I have never felt so mad at anyone!”

“Well, this IS a member of your family we’re talking about,” remarked Amy.

“Would you mind if my friends and I made a house call?” asked the Doctor. Raz blinked.

“…You wanna use a psycho-portal on me?” he asked.

“I’ll be monitoring you all,” said Sasha. “I’ve got smelling salts on me to snap you all out of it should the situation call for it.”

“…Well, that IS what Psychonauts are supposed to do,” mused Raz. “…All right! Let’s get started!” He lowered his goggles over his eyes, then put his psycho-portal on his forehead. The Doctor and her friends then shut their eyes and felt their minds entering the little door. For once, Raz was the one being treated.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

The Twisting Mind: Part 2

As Raz continued, he learned more of the Doctor’s mind. He fought a Cyberman with a blonde man with a stick of celery on his lapel, beat a Sontaran with a man in a patchwork coat, outwitted a man in a goatee with a man carrying an umbrella with a question mark handle, ran through New York with a wavy-haired man, battled waves of Daleks with a grizzled old man, threw vinegar onto a Slitheen with a man in leather, saw the loss of the companion of a man in a pinstripe suit, nearly tripped over a man with a bow tie tripping over himself, fended off a Zygon with a man with attack eyebrows, averted the Flux with a woman with a long gray coat, arrested Beep the Meep with a version of the man in the pinstripe suit, threw Sutekh into the Time Vortex with a flamboyant black Scotsman, his memory with what looked like the Doctor’s companion was hazy, then finished with fending off Doctor Doom with the Doctor as she was now. After taking care of the last Censor, Raz and the Doctor finally talked. “All those monsters and enemies you fought, the friends you made,” he said as the two settled in the current console room, “the way I see it, if you knew who Gristol Malik was, you’d be putting him back into Psychoisolation.”

“Then, perhaps,” suggested the Doctor, “we go back into the real world and you can tell me who he is and why he’s so dangerous.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve seen enough here. See you back in the real world, Doctor!” The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and Raz felt himself lifting away from the Doctor’s mind.

Raz blinked and saw that he was back in Sasha’s lab with Sasha checking over his instruments and the Doctor coming out of the trance. He then checked himself over and felt the weight of his body. “Most interesting,” muttered Sasha.

“What?” asked Raz.

“The scanners are saying that she has two hearts,” replied Sasha.

“Well, I DID learn she was from the planet of Gallifrey,” explained Raz. “And that she changes her face often

“An alien shapeshifter?” asked Sasha. “That’s a first for the Psychonauts.”

“There’s more, Agent Nein,” continued Raz. “I saw all her friends and enemies, none of them were Gristol Malik. She hadn’t even heard of the name until today. Her friends here are probably in the same boat.”

“We are!” confirmed Amy. “Now would you let us go?!” Sasha gestured and the restraints holding the Doctor and her friends released themselves.

“Much appreciated,” thanked the Doctor. “Now, how about some proper introductions? I’m the Doctor. The currently angry goth pink hedgehog girl is Amy Rose.”

“Really feel like smashing my hammer on you!” hissed Amy at Sasha.

“And the Twi’lek is Lurra Rus,” finished the Doctor. Lurra Rus put a soothing hand on Amy’s shoulder. “And you two are…?”

“Agent Sasha Nein of the Psychonauts,” greeted Sasha. “And this is my protégé, Razputin Aquato.”

“Hi!” greeted Raz. The Doctor’s eyes widened.

“Raz Aquato himself?! The youngest Psychonaut agent ever?!” she asked.

“You’ve heard of me?” asked Raz. The Doctor grinned.

“We only went through the highlights of my life,” she said. “Let’s say that if we went to specifics, you’d have spoilers about your wonderful future thanks to Sasha and Milla!”

“Wonderful future, hm?” mused Sasha as he took a drag out of his cigarette. He then smiled. “So Milla Vodello and I DO get something right!”

“So what’s my future like?!” asked Raz with his usual youthful exuberance. “Is it really awesome?! Do Lili and I have kids?! Ooh! Do one of us become the Grand Head?!”

“Ah ah! Spoilers,” replied the Doctor. “I can’t tell you the future. That will break the laws of time. Let’s just focus on the current crisis, hm? Who is Gristol Malik?”

“He’s the Gzesarevich of Grulovia,” explained Raz, “my dad’s old home. I’m half Grulovian.”

“Grulovia?” asked the Doctor. “But the whole country was washed away.”

“Well, you can blame Gristol’s parents for that,” replied Sasha. “Raz has had the most experience with him, but he told me and Agent Vodello about it all and how he got wrapped up in the whole thing. What do you say we walk and talk?”

“Sounds fine to me,” replied the Doctor.

The Doctor and her friends were officially cleared and brought on as freelance helpers to the Motherlobe. “So Gristol’s parents,” the Doctor was summing up, “pushed Lucretia Mux to the breaking point by making her the general of war, Maligula. Maligula tried to knock away the protestors, but her hydrokinesis resulted in the death of her sister, Marona Aquato, and sent her over the edge, flooding and destroying all of Grulovia, then Ford Cruller brought her back and altered the Aquato family’s memories so that she lived as Raz’s Nona instead of his great-aunt so that Maligula would never surface again, but parts of her past were coming back and she convinced you, Raz, to go to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp to start the ball rolling in freeing her fully. Gristol, meanwhile, disguised himself as Nick Johnsmith the mailman and put his brain into Grand Head Truman Zonatto’s head while locking the brain away, then you rescued ‘Truman’ from the Rhombus of Ruin and tried to find out who kidnapped him in the first place, then you fixed Ford Cruller’s mind after it was shattered in the psychic duel with Maligula and tried to lock her away again with the Astralathe, but it failed thanks to Gristol in Truman’s body interfering, and Maligula rose again, but you entered her mind and managed to help Lucretia face Maligula and bring an end, then you put Truman and Gristol’s brains back into their proper bodies, and to finish it off, you put Gristol in Psychoisolation.” The Doctor took a breath. “…Have I missed anything?”

“…No, you pretty much got it,” replied Raz.

“Lucretia’s reconnecting with the Psychic Six and we’re keeping it under wraps as best we can,” said Sasha.

“So how did Gristol get out?” mused Lurra Rus. As they talked, Raz saw a young woman approaching them. He groaned.

“Norma, will you beat it?!” he complained. “We’re working on Gristol’s escape here!”

“…T…V…” mumbled Norma. Raz blinked.

“…What?!” he asked as worry crept into his mind.

“Raz?” asked Amy.

“Sasha-!” yelped Raz. Sasha looked into Norma’s ear.

“…Brainless!” he said.

“Oh no!” groaned Raz. “Gristol must have found that sneezing powder!”

“Could somebody fill us in?” asked the Doctor.

“Those with psychic powers,” explained Sasha, “can survive without a body.”

“That’s true of all species, even us Time Lords,” replied the Doctor.

“There’s a special sneezing powder,” said Raz, “that can make anyone sneeze with enough force to eject their brain from their body. It somehow works on non-psychics and keeps them alive, though not as long as psychics.”

“And Norma here encountered that same sneezing powder?” asked Amy.

“It’s the only explanation,” replied Sasha. “And Gristol must have had it smuggled to him.”

“So why not use it on Terryl?” asked Raz. “She still has her brain, last I heard.”

“Indeed, why not Terryl? It makes no sense,” remarked Sasha.

“…Unless Norma was part of his scheme in the first place,” mused Raz.

“Why?” asked Amy.

“Norma always grumbled that our promotion to Junior Psychonauts was underwhelming,” replied Raz. “Maybe he played on that?”

“…But that would mean she visited Psychoisolation in the first place,” mused the Doctor. “…Perhaps we should ask Terryl some questions.”

“Not a bad idea,” agreed Sasha.

“I’d be careful, though,” warned Raz. “She’s a bit…intense.”

The group arrived at Psychoisolation after informing the medical ward about Norma being brainless in the most literal sense. They met with the receptionist, Terryl. “HI!” she greeted, eager to talk to people. “Agent Nein! So good to see you! For a while, I thought the Psychonauts forgot about me!”

“Terryl, we need to ask you a few questions,” said Sasha. “It concerns Gristol Malik and Norma. Has she visited Gristol at any point before the breakout?”

“…Well, no,” replied Terryl, confused. “She only arrived on the day of the breakout and she was somehow overpowered by Gristol. He took advantage of her and decked her. I had to get medical staff over to fix her.”

“Decked?” asked Raz. “As in a punch? But her brain’s missing! No one can punch that hard, not even psychics!”

“Something just isn’t adding up,” muttered the Doctor. As she pondered, everyone heard someone rush into the building.

“LET ME IN! LET ME IN!” begged a voice.

“Gristol?!” yelped Raz. Gristol Malik then crashed into the group. He then grabbed Sasha by the arms and shook him, fear plain in his eyes.

“It’s all gone wrong! You need to let me in!” he babbled.

“Gristol, what ARE you talking about?” asked Sasha. “Did one of my experiments-?”

“Trust me, I WISH it was you!” insisted Gristol. “But it’s not! It’s his classmate! The rat! The schemer!” He pointed at Raz.

“Rat? Schemer?” asked Raz. “Who are you-?” The earth then shook. A metal hand then tore the front of the building off, door and all! The metal hand belonged to some giant robot with a brain swimming in green fluid!

“Ah, here to witness my work, Raz?!” asked a woman’s voice. Raz goggled in horror.

“Norma?!” he yelped.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

The Twisting Mind: Part 1

A young boy wearing a flight helmet and aviator goggles headed into a lab at the base he was living in. The man in the lab was wearing his usual coat and goggles and was working on a machine. “Agent Nein?” asked the boy.

“Ah, Raz,” replied the man, Agent Sasha Nein. “Excellent. I need your help recalibrating the Brain Tumbler. For some odd reason, I cannot access the Collective Unconscious.”

“Is that the cheap one you got?” asked the boy, Razputin “Raz” Aquato, Junior Psychonaut.

“No, no,” replied Sasha, “that’s still at the camp.”

“Well, I DO want to help,” said Raz, “but Terryl said that she hasn’t heard Gristol singing lately.”

“Considering that he sings off-key, that’s a small mercy,” remarked Sasha. “…How long has he not been singing?”

“For three days,” replied Raz. “She only told me a few minutes ago. That’s why I need your help.”

“Three days? He barely lasts three hours before…well, you were right to get help. Come on, Razputin.” Sasha led the way out of the lab.

It was peaceful in the old quarry. The main building looked like a pair of hands supporting a glass brain. On the landing pad…the people that worked at the building heard a noise. They all turned to see a blue box fading into existence next to a jet. The box then opened from the inside and three women of various appearances stepped out. The onlookers didn’t know it, but the box was the TARDIS and the women were the Doctor, Amy Rose, and Lurra Rus. “Doctor, what’s going on?” asked Lurra Rus. “Why did you have to veer off course like that?”

“Believe it or not, I didn’t,” replied the Doctor. “That was the TARDIS’s doing. The old girl detected a massive amount of psychic energy and needed to investigate.”

“So where are we?” asked Amy.

“I’m not sure,” remarked the Doctor. She then got a good look at the place. “Judging by the shape of the building, I’d guess it’s some mental research area.”

“Hands where we can see them!” called a security guard. He and his friends then placed a hand on their heads and reached out with their other hands.

“It’s all right!” called the Doctor as she pulled out the psychic paper. “We’re all friends here! Just inspecting! Code name: Doctor, accompanied by Amy Rose and Lurra Rus!” The psychic paper was then yanked out of her hand and floated towards the commander.

“…You trying to be funny?!” snapped the commander. “There’s a psychic link to this thing! It’s blank!”

“That was telekinesis!” gasped the Doctor. “I mean, PROPER telekinesis! Are you all psychics?!”

“You’re at the Motherlobe, of course we’re psychic!” replied the commander.

“The Motherlobe? OH! Then you’re all Psychonauts!” The Doctor grinned. “Like I said, I’m the Doctor and-!” She and her friends then found themselves lifted up by some invisible hand! “OI! STEADY ON!”

“First Gristol Malik breaks out, then three intruders show up!” hissed the commander.

“Funny how coincidences pop up like that!” replied the Doctor.

“I don’t believe in coincidences! Guards! Take them to Sasha Nein!”

“YES SIR!” replied the guards. The Doctor and her friends were forced to float after them.

“Doctor, what-?!” gulped Amy.

“When we’re safer, I promise,” replied the Doctor.

Sasha Nein had all three of them restrained with Raz looking at the whole thing. “Are we sure these ladies broke Gristol out of Psychoisolation?” asked Raz.

“No, and that’s why we’re interrogating them,” replied Sasha.

“Talk like we’re not here,” muttered Lurra Rus. “Real classy.”

“So, what are you using?” asked the Doctor. “Psycho-Portal? Brain Tumbler? Either way, my mind’s a rather dangerous place to be.”

“Razputin, deploy the Psycho-Portal,” ordered Sasha. Raz then pulled out a small door that could fit in his hand and threw it at the Doctor’s head. The door stuck itself to the Doctor’s forehead.

“Oh! Steady on!” protested the Doctor. “No need to hurl it!” Raz then lowered his flight goggles over his eyes as the door opened. Both Raz and the Doctor then entered into a trance.

Raz found himself in a white room with roundels on the walls and a hexagonal control console. His vision had turned black and white. “…Okay, this room must be important somehow.” He walked up to the console. “Maybe-.”

“Young man, will you kindly move away from the console?!” snapped an old man’s voice. Raz whirled around to see an old man with white hair and wore clothes that were a cross between the Edwardian and Victorian periods.

“Whoa! Sorry, sir!” yelped Raz.

“Honestly, it’s bad enough you invade my mind, but now you want to learn the secrets of my ship?!” snapped the old man. Raz blinked.

“…I…thought I was in the Doctor’s mind,” he said.

“You are,” replied the old man. “And you’re speaking to her. Or rather, HIM.” He then gripped the lapels of his jacket.

“…Y-You’re a shape-shifter?!” yelped Raz.

“Of a sort,” replied the old man, the First Doctor. “Now, you said you were looking for this…Gristol Malik, hm? Well, you’ll have to meet my other incarnations and see if they know anything, because, quite frankly, in my first incarnation, I had never heard of him.” The Doctor pressed some buttons on the console and opened a door. “Off you go, young man.” Raz headed through the door and into a room similar to the one he just left. This time, there was a man with black hair and dressed like a tramp. He played a bit of music on his recorder before he spotted Raz.

“Ah, there you are!” he said. “I was wondering if you’d get here. You haven’t fiddled with any of the controls, have you?”

“…Doctor?” asked Raz.

“Yes, that’s me,” replied the hobo, the Second Doctor. “I take it you wish to continue your interrogation.”

“Well, yeah! Where’s Gristol Malik?” asked Raz.

“My dear young man, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time with me. I had never heard of him.”

“Well, which one of you did?!” snapped Raz.

“There’s no need to shout,” replied the Doctor. “You can either interrogate all my previous incarnations and check that I’d never heard of Gristol Malik until my arrival to the Motherlobe or you can skip straight to my current one and brutally interrogate her and get nowhere with your search.”

“Fine, I’ll play your game!” hissed Raz.

“Splendid!” cheered the Doctor. “Now, that way should lead you to Fancy Pants.” He opened another door. Raz entered the room and…well, it looked more like a lab and his color vision returned. He looked around the lab and saw pictures…pictures of people, but none of them were Gristol Malik.

“What’s their connection with you, I wonder?” muttered Raz.

“NO!” came a robotic voice. Raz turned to see several men dressed as stuffy bureaucrats with giant stamps in the shape of the usual prohibition sign (red circle with a diagonal line) running into the room.

“Censors!” shuddered Raz.

“I say, chaps!” called a new voice. The speaker was a man in fancy clothes, complete with frilled sleeves. “Would you mind leaving him alone?”

“NO!” replied the Censors.

“Just a suggestion.” The man then got into physical combat with them. Raz joined in the fight and fired blasts of mental energy! “I say, do be careful!” warned the man.

“Really hoping you’re the Doctor!” replied Raz as he finished off the last Censor.

“That I am,” replied the man, the Third Doctor.

“Who are all those people?” asked Raz as he pointed at the pictures.

“Oh, they’re my companions,” replied the Doctor. “Do you recognize any of them as this Gristol Malik you’re looking for?”

“…No, they’re not,” said Raz. “How many lives am I going through here?”

“Quite a few, young man,” answered the Doctor. “I have a feeling you’ll find your answers.” He opened a door and Raz entered it to reveal a new console room.

“All right, what’s next?” asked Raz.

“Unauthorized humanoid detected!” barked a harsh, grating, metallic voice. Raz turned to see a machine creature with no legs, a single eyestalk, a plunger, and an elongated whisk. “You will be exterminated!” barked the creature as it aimed its whisk at Raz. Someone then placed a hat on its eyestalk. “ALERT! ALERT! VISION IMPARED! I CANNOT SEE!” Raz rolled out of the way as it fired wildly!

“Help me move this thing!” called a voice. This one came from a tall man with curly hair and a long multicolored scarf! Raz used telekinesis to guide the machine creature out of the room. The creature exploded and revealed green, fleshy insides. Raz turned to the man as he stared at the creature. “Didn’t want you to meet the Daleks,” muttered the man.

“Doctor?” asked Raz.

“That’s right,” replied the man, the Fourth Doctor. He then pulled out a small bag. “Have a jelly baby.”

“I can’t taste food in a mental world,” remarked Raz.

“Oh, it should be good for your mental health,” said the Doctor. Raz considered, then accepted the treat.

“What WAS that thing?” asked Raz as he pointed at the remains of the creature. “What did you call it, a Dalek?”

“The most ruthless form of life I ever met, devoid of all pity,” replied the Doctor. He then finally looked at Raz. “And it seems more of my enemies await you as you meet each of my incarnations.” That…worried Raz.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Time of the League: Part 4

“President of the United States?” scoffed the Master. “Fools. I took advantage of Maxil’s dullness and stole a TARDIS meant for him, now bonded to me, and you think I’m going to content myself with being the ruler of a backwards country whose populace is engaged in an informational Civil War? My campaign is a farce! A small part of a much grander scheme that involved getting Sinestro to figure out my plan and foolishly rush to usurp it!” He then activated red lamps and Superman immediately felt weakened. “President?!” The Master then slapped Superman. “Do you have any idea how much power I’d have to give up to be President of the United States? Why do you think Trump flailed and cried like a two-year old during his two terms, especially in 2025!” He then made the restraints slam everyone against the wall. “That’s right, everyone. I made every Republican voter waste their money on a fake Presidential campaign, got the worst of the Justice League’s rogues gallery to kidnap the UN General Assembly, and stole Sinestro’s ring, all just to take advantage of the Grouping!”

“Your failure was predetermined!” growled Batman. The Master stopped gloating and pulled Batman up to his face.

“I’m a Lord of Time, Mr. Wayne,” he said. “I determine destiny.”

“And I went through the Grouping!” hissed Batman. “We all did at one point or another! It hasn’t happened to my friends yet, but it happened to me between this meeting and my first meeting with the Doctor! And the universe goes back to normal despite your best efforts!”

“You lie!”

“Then what’s wrapped around my ankle?” The Master blinked at Batman’s question, then looked down at the Dark Knight’s ankle. There was a glowing rope around it…and Wonder Woman was holding it!

“It’s not called the Lasso of Truth for no reason!” hissed Wonder Woman.

“I’ll be changing Batman’s history, make no mistake!” promised the Master. “And with you all restrained and my wearing of Sinestro’s ring, I’ll turn this planet into a world of order! Something Sinestro keeps failing to do!”

“Sure wish I thought of something,” replied Batman. “Oh wait, I did.” He nodded towards the Master’s desk. The Master looked at the desk and saw a batarang on it…a batarang with a timer!

“NO!” yelped the Master. The batarang blew up and the red light vanished. Superman then flexed and broke out of the restraints. Superman absolutely DECKED him, yet still held back enough that the insane Time Lord’s head didn’t explode! The Master groaned as he lay on the floor. Sinestro then took the ring off the Master’s finger and put it back on his own, restoring his suit.

“This whole event was a waste of time!” snarled Sinestro. “I can’t believe I got roped into a Time Lord’s petty plan!”

“What did he promise you, Sinestro?” asked the Doctor.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” scoffed Sinestro. He fired a blast at Wonder Woman, obviously not wanting to test the lasso, then scattered debris to confuse everyone, then took off and left Earth.

“And there he goes, back to Korugar,” grumbled Green Lantern.

“What about the Master?” asked the Flash. Everyone then heard a noise. They looked over to see that the desk was vanishing!

“NONONO!” shouted the Doctor as she leapt at the desk. Too late, the desk, or rather the Master’s TARDIS, vanished.

“…That’s two that got away,” muttered Martian Manhunter.

The Doctor brought everyone back to the Watchtower. As they all left the TARDIS, the Doctor gathered six little squares. “…Doctor, what are you doing?” asked Superman.

“The TARDIS telepathic circuits can’t make a call to Gallifrey,” replied the Doctor. “I’m sending a message the old-fashioned way.” She laid out the squares in a circle on the floor, then sat cross-legged on the floor and entered a meditative trance. As she meditated, the squares moved across the floor. Four of the squares attached themselves to the sides of a fifth square, then they moved up to form the sides of a box. The last square then slid up one of the box’s sides and aligned itself on top. The seams of the squares then vanished, forming a complete cube. The Doctor woke up with a sigh.

“What is that?” asked Amy.

“It’s a hypercube, a message with all my thoughts concerning the Master’s recent gambit,” replied the Doctor as she stood up and picked the box up, “as well as a request for Gallifrey to watch for the Grouping.”

“What IS the Grouping?” quizzed Lurra Rus.

“It’s where various points in time start blending together,” explained the Doctor. “The confusion would start a greater war.”

“Doctor, won’t less-scrupulous races take advantage of that?” asked Amy.

“Yes, they would,” replied the Doctor. She then concentrated on the hypercube and it vanished. “There we go,” she said. “Barring major disasters, the Time Lords will be made aware.”

“So they’ve returned,” remarked Martian Manhunter.

“…Yes, J’onn, they have,” replied the Doctor. “All I can say is that I’m not asking much, just that they observe things. They can’t do anything more as they’re still rebuilding.”

“Doctor, make sure you never lose them again,” said Martian Manhunter.

“Indeed. Well, goodbye, everyone.” The Doctor and her friends went back into the TARDIS and took off.

“…Nice lady,” remarked Superman. “Now, barring any emergencies, I gotta talk to Lois about her newest article.”

“Someone mention my name?” asked a woman’s voice. A woman with long, raven hair arrived.

“Lois!” Superman brought the woman into a hug. Batman rolled his eyes while Wonder Woman smiled.

“What brings you here, Miss Lane?” asked Wonder Woman.

“Oddly, just a visit,” replied Lois. “But I’m sure I’ll get an assignment about you all later.”

“Well, as long as you’re here, Lois,” said Superman, “…are you doing okay?”

“…Yeah, why?” asked Lois.

“Well, I just got your article-.”

“Nice, isn’t it?! Pure genius!”

“Well, you’re keeping me employed,” remarked Superman. Lois bridled at this.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“Lois, there were so many errors and typos! Did you turn off the spellchecker?!”

“SPELLCHECKER CAN’T CONTROL ME, CLARK!” Superman backed and raised his hands at that. He could take on Darkseid, wallop Doomsday, and foil all of Luthor’s plans, but he wasn’t gonna try and take on Lois’ retort!

Back in the TARDIS as it spun through the Time Vortex, the Doctor fiddled with the controls, monitoring the Time Vortex for any temporal anomalies. Amy and Lurra Rus gave her some space. As she worked, the Doctor heard a beeping. She headed over to see that it was a video call from Gallifrey. “Let’s hope it’s to say that they got it, old girl,” the Doctor whispered to the TARDIS. She activated the scanner. “This is the Doctor. Receiving you, Gallifrey,” she said. A Time Lord’s face appeared. “Ah, my granddaughter’s Castellan, yes?”

“Castellan Stognavtifrelizundar,” replied the Castellan. “But let’s take a page from the lady Romana’s book and just call me Stognav.”

“Now that’s a page I had help in writing,” chuckled the Doctor. “So did you get my message?”

“Yes, and we’re monitoring the Time Vortex for any anomalies,” replied Stognav. “It’s a good thing you merely asked for monitoring as we’re not in a state to do anything about the upcoming Grouping.”

“I didn’t think so. Last time I was on Gallifrey, you lot were drafting a new Constitution.”

“We’ve gone through a few rough drafts, but we believe we’re getting closer to one that would make Gallifrey as dynamic as Earth. Even the Outsiders have a say.”

“Truly?” asked the Doctor hopefully.

“It’s been decided that there would be two High Councils,” explained Stognav, “the High Council of Time Lords and the High Council of Gallifrey. It’s believed that, since Outsiders outnumber Time Lords, their High Council should be bigger than ours. President Foreman’s insistence.”

“Well, she lived on Earth for a while, I can guess where she got the idea,” chuckled the Doctor with pride.

“Doctor, she tasked us with looking at the various points of English Parliament, believing that they could provide a framework for how both High Councils should meet and debate.”

“Make sure you look at Parliament’s mistakes as well as their victories,” directed the Doctor.

“Very well. If you could provide us with a good starting point, that would be helpful,” said Stognav.

“Transmitting now,” replied the Doctor as she keyed in the time periods to look at.

“Oh, a union of parliaments, was it?” chuckled Stognav. “Very well. We’ll take it from here, Doctor. Erm, you WILL also be on the lookout for any indications that the Grouping will start?”

“Naturally, I’m not letting you do all the work,” replied the Doctor.

“Very good. Safe travels to you and your companions.” Stognav ended the call. By then, Amy and Lurra Rus came in. Amy was back in her goth dress.

“Who was that?” asked Amy.

“Gallifrey,” replied the Doctor. “They got my hypercube. I won’t be monitoring the Time Vortex alone.”

“Great!” sighed Lurra Rus happily. “Now…where should we start monitoring?”

“…Well, psychic energy CAN affect the Time Vortex,” mused the Doctor. “Maybe we should check out where the greatest psychic concentration is.” The Doctor began her scans.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Time of the League: Part 3

The Flash ran across the ocean, then reached Haiti and began his search. He then heard a gorilla roar. “That way!” he said as he followed the roar. He then found Gorilla Grodd beating his chest and intimidating his 33 hostages. “Hey! Donkey Kong!” called the Flash.

“FLASH!” roared Grodd.

“Following a chump like Luthor?” chuckled Flash. “No wonder Solovar’s trying to take his throne back!”

“Mind your tongue, human!” warned Grodd. “I won’t hesitate to eat it!”

“I thought you gorillas were herbivores?” asked the Flash.

“Most are! I’m not!”

“…Jaime was right. Freak of nature, that’s what you are. You really think the UN will recognize YOU as the leader of Gorilla City?”

“With Grodd, all things are possible!” Grodd then used his telekinesis to grab a large rock and throw it at the Flash. The Flash side-stepped the rock before it hit.

“You know, there’s a rumor floating around that someone else is pulling Luthor’s strings,” he remarked. “Who’s the puppet master here?”

“I…I…I cannot…say!” strained Grodd. He swung his fist at the Flash, but the Flash dodged again and used his superspeed to punch Grodd in the face multiple times, causing the talking gorilla to fall flat on his face. He then helped the hostages out of their spot and called the Doctor.

“Doc, it looks like Grodd’s been forced to be quiet about the puppet master like Cheetah,” he said. “We need answers…oh, and a lift. The delegates are all right.”

“I have a nasty theory,” replied the Doctor, “but I’ll need Amy and Superman’s help to confirm it.”

Martian Manhunter flew towards Ontario. “And just think,” he muttered to himself, “I had a stash of Oreos ready to be eaten.” He then heard screams. “D’Razz!” he hissed as he flew towards the source of the screams. On the outskirts of Ontario were 29 people, 28 of them being the last of the hostages and the remaining one being D’kay D’Razz. “D’KAY!” called Martian Manhunter.

“Ah! My mate!” replied the twisted female Martian.

“D’kay, you must stop this!” urged Martian Manhunter. “Our race cannot return like this!”

“It can and it will! And with what our partner has promised, there will be only ONE Martian race! No Ice Warriors, no pseudo-humans, no White Martians, and no inky-black creatures that look like some blend of Rome and Egypt!”

“Your ally isn’t a real friend!”

“I’ve seen his technology! I’ve returned home just before our end! Now I can bring it back!” D’kay pulled out all the stops, but Martian Manhunter simply changed shape to dodge each blow. Finally, he grabbed a book of matches…and lit one! D’kay tried to put it out, but Martian Manhunter hit her in the back of her head, knocking her out, then doused the small fire. He then shuddered.

“That’s the last time I’m doing that!” he said as he freed the hostages. He then called the Doctor. “Doctor, the hostages are freed, and I may have discovered a clue that might narrow down our list of people controlling Luthor. D’kay D’Razz said that she saw our race just before we went extinct.”

“That would imply time travel,” replied the Doctor. “And with the other clues we gathered…standby.”

Back at LexCorp, the Doctor called Amy. “…You don’t think…I mean, he was imprisoned, wasn’t he?” asked Amy. “…Yeah, he would, wouldn’t he? …I’ve got an idea to confirm it. You just get the delegates back.”

“So, the hostages are freed,” guessed Luthor.

“Did you think we wouldn’t save them?” asked Superman.

“I suppose I had a small hope you would,” replied Luthor. “Now, Miss Rose, what IS this brilliant idea of yours to confirm the Doctor’s theory?” Amy simply took the lasso off her waist. “…You really think that can overcome the mental block my associate placed on me?”

“We’ll have to try,” replied Amy.

“You gotta admit, Lex,” mused Superman, “it WOULD be good PR for any future political campaigns if you asked the Justice League for help in taking down a criminal.” Luthor stroked his chin.

“The thing is, Superman, I know you’re stroking my ego,” he said. “…but you’re right. Miss Rose, if you please.” He rolled up his sleeve. Amy slipped the lasso of truth on his wrist.

“All right. Here goes,” she said. “Is the Presidential Candidate behind this catastrophe really the renegade Time Lord known as the Master?” The lasso glowed. Luthor strained for a bit, then…

“YES!” he finally shouted. Amy took the lasso off and called the Doctor.

“Luthor confirmed it with the lasso!” she said. “The Master DID break out of Gallifreyan prison and he’s one of the two Presidential Candidates!”

“How could he break out?!” Lurra Rus asked the Doctor as the two helped the delegates leave the TARDIS in an orderly fashion once they were brought back to UN Headquarters.

“He’s a genius,” replied the Doctor. “A mad one, but a genius.” Another call then came through.

“Doctor, it’s Green Lantern! Sinestro overheard and he broke out! He’s looking for the Master!”

“No, not now!” complained the Doctor.

In Texas, a man in a goatee, cowboy hat, and boots as well as a suit and red tie returned to his office. “You just keep doing what you’re doing!” he called to his secretary. “We’re gonna win this!” He shut his door and gasped when he saw Sinestro sitting at his desk.

“Tell me, what is it your people fear, Master?” he asked.

“…I-I don’t-!” stammered the man.

“We all know who you are,” dismissed Sinestro. “Not this ‘Sam Terrance’ act. The Lasso of Truth was used on Luthor, and it overcame your mental block. Besides, my ring is screaming that you’re Gallifreyan, not human.” The man, or rather, the Master, rolled his eyes.

“Well, I suppose even knock-off Oan technology can do something that simple,” he sighed, dropping the thick Texan accent. “What do you want, Sinestro? I have a campaign to run and a country to throw into civil war.”

“Have you seen the latest polls?” asked Sinestro as he summoned a hologram of said polls. “Even the independents say you’re going to be this backward nation’s new president.” The Master sat on his desk with a smirk.

“Those fools, Trump and Putin, DID pave the way for me,” he said.

“And betting against you at this time wouldn’t be prudent for the denizens of this country,” replied Sinestro. “You must understand, although my distaste for you self-proclaimed Time Lords is incalculable, what I’m about to do is utterly impersonal.”

“What are you babbling about, the superiority of Korugarans over Gallifreyans?”

“You DO know that everything that exists has a specific nature, yes? Each entity has something in particular and has characteristics that are a part of what it is. The human letter ‘A’ is the human letter ‘A’. And no matter what face he wears or what biological sex he is, the Master is still the Master. If I am to bring order to the universe, your existence must come to an end before you take office.”

“You’re going to kill me and thus eliminate a rival to your power.” The Master chuckled.

“I’m a well-known monarch. The upcoming Grouping will play out, and order will reign supreme.” By then, the TARDIS made its usual arrival noise, distracting Sinestro.

“Interesting plan, Thaal Sinestro,” mused the Master. “Unfortunately for you, it’s not really an option!” The instant the TARDIS fully materialized, the Master grabbed something from his desk and fired a laser right at Sinestro’s chest! The shot pushed him into the TARDIS and he hit with enough force to knock the ring off his finger. The Master rushed over and snatched it up just as the TARDIS doors opened.

“NOBODY MOVE!” called the Doctor as she led the Justice League and her friends out of the TARDIS.

“Too late, Doctor!” cackled the Master.

“How did you get out?!” demanded Lurra Rus.

“Intruder window, how else?” snarked the Master.

“You’ll be going right back there when I’m through!” swore the Doctor.

“Promises, promises!” retorted the Master.

“The jig is up, buddy!” warned the Flash. “Your alien origins will be revealed and the Republican Party will have to settle for your running mate!”

“And I care because?” asked the Master.

“Master, there’s something I don’t understand,” said Amy. “How does being the President fit into your-?”

“President?” scoffed the Master.

“You must stop him!” insisted Sinestro. “He has my ring!”

“Okay, now I think I HAVE lost the plot here,” remarked the Doctor as she leapt towards the Master. The Master twirled out of the way and slipped the ring on his finger! A yellow and black jumpsuit replaced his outfit and a Time Lord collar and skull cap appeared on his shoulders and head.

“A perfect fit!” purred the Master. “Now…now I can fully take advantage of the Grouping!”

“The Grouping?” asked the Doctor. “You really ARE insane; that’s just a myth!”

“How does being our President help you handle this…grouping?” asked Superman. That was when the Master used the ring to create restraints around everyone!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Time of the League: Part 2

“193 known member countries,” muttered the Doctor. “Each with one delegate. How did Luthor get them?!”

“We’ll figure that out as we go,” said Martian Manhunter. “For now, we must rescue them.”

“Global surveillance,” reported Batman, “says that they’ve been kidnapped and are being held according to each group of the General Assembly. Cheetah has the Group of African States somewhere in Nigeria, Sinestro has the Group of Asia Pacific States in Japan, the Joker is holding the Group of Eastern European States in Poland, Gorilla Grodd has the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States imprisoned in Haiti, and D’kay D’Razz is holding the Group of Western European and Other States in Ontario, Canada.”

“We’ll have to split up,” muttered the Flash.

“Agreed,” said Superman. “But how do we get-?”

“My TARDIS can pick them up and drop them all off back and UN Headquarters,” replied the Doctor.

“That box? How?” asked Green Lantern.

“It’s bigger on the inside,” replied Batman. “And it travels through time.”

“No way!” scoffed the Flash.

“The Time Lords WERE famous for dimensional engineering, according to the archives,” said Superman. “Anyways, Amy, we still have your Wonder Woman outfit available if you want to join me in interrogating Luthor.”

“Sounds fun!” replied Amy.

“The rest of the team assignments seem pretty straight forward to me. Wonder Woman, you’re heading to Nigeria.”

“Got it,” replied Wonder Woman.

“Batman, you’ll be heading to Poland.” Batman nodded. “Green Lantern, you head to Japan.”

“Understood,” answered Green Lantern.

“Flash, you’re going to Haiti.”

“Check,” said the Flash.

“Martian Manhunter-.”

“I’ll depart for Ontario,” said Martian Manhunter.

“Doctor, here,” said Superman as he handed the Doctor a communicator. “You and Lurra Rus keep an ear out for anyone that needs a pickup, then get the delegates back to UN Headquarters.”

“You got it,” replied the Doctor.

“Amy, let’s get you suited up,” continued Superman. “We’ll be heading to LexCorp, where Lex’s demands were broadcasted.”

“All right!” cheered Amy.

“Friends, we face a dire threat!” said Superman. “But as long as we hold to the ideals of the Justice League, we can-!”

“Clark, with all due respect,” grumbled Wonder Woman as everyone got up for their assignments, “save the speech for later!” Everyone rushed out, leaving Superman and Amy.

“…But…we always let bad guys finish their speeches! That’s just good manners!” protested Superman.

Wonder Woman arrived in Nigeria via her invisible jet and spotted a crowd. “That must be where Cheetah’s holding her hostages,” she guessed. And she guessed right. Once she landed her jet, she flew above the crowd and spotted Cheetah with the 54 delegates that made up the Group of African States. “Barbara!” called Wonder Woman. Cheetah looked up.

“Wonder Woman, please! Do not interfere!” she called.

“Barbara, this isn’t going to help!” urged Wonder Woman, hoping to end this before she had to throw a punch. “I don’t know what the Goddess is telling you, but killing those people will NOT restore your human form!”

“This isn’t a command from the Goddess! It’s from someone else! I have no choice!”

“From Luthor? He’s not the best example of the world of Men.”

“No! It’s…It’s…!” Cheetah clearly tried to say it, but couldn’t.

“…Someone with more power than Luthor,” guessed Wonder Woman. “Barbara, you are a brilliant woman! You know what you’re doing is wrong! Resist! Resist that being!”

“I…I cannot…disobey…my master!” strained Cheetah. She then leapt at Wonder Woman, her claws and teeth bared. Wonder Woman raised her arms so that Cheetah bit on Wonder Woman’s bracelet, then Wonder Woman decked Cheetah with enough force and restraint to simply knock her out. The Amazon Princess then freed the delegates and called the Doctor.

“Doctor, this is Wonder Woman. Cheetah has been dealt with and the delegates are free. Cheetah HAS mentioned someone above Luthor. I don’t think he’s pulling the strings here.”

In Japan, Green Lantern scanned the area for any signs of fear. “Alert!” warned his ring. “Evidence of the Yellow Impurity detected!”

“Ring, take me there!” ordered Green Lantern. He flew to Kyoto and found a distinct yellow glow. He found Sinestro using his yellow ring construct to bind his 55 hostages in snake coils!

“Typical of you Justice League fools,” scoffed Sinestro.

“Hey, it’s in a Green Lantern’s job description!” replied Green Lantern. “Remember? Green Lantern? No evil shall escape my sight?”

“The Sinestro Corps are hardly evil, just ask my ally.”

“Kidnapping politicians is pretty evil if you ask me! And Luthor’s a known criminal according to all Earth laws!”

“I refer to the one pulling his strings,” replied Sinestro.

“Wait, this ISN’T Luthor’s plan? Then who-?” Green Lantern didn’t get his answer as a wicked-looking spider made of yellow light flew at him. Green Lantern used his ring to make a giant can of bug spray and sprayed the spider with it. The spider vanished against Sinestro’s will. “I’m not arachnophobic,” scoffed Green Lantern. He then created a jet with his ring and fired on Sinestro, knocking him out of the sky and making him lose consciousness. The snake then vanished, releasing the hostages. “Doctor, this is Green Lantern. Requesting pickup. Mission accomplished. And Sinestro revealed that there’s someone pulling Lex’s strings.”

Batman flew his Batplane over Poland, looking for the Joker. Just then, a call came through. The ID said it was Penny One. Batman accepted. “Go ahead, Alfred,” he said.

“Master Bruce, Sir,” replied Alfred, “surveillance cameras loaned graciously by the Justice League has detected a rather gaudy carnival in the northern outskirts of Elblag, just shy of its border with Russia. Sending you the coordinates now.”

“Thanks, Alfred. I’ll wrap this up as quickly as possible.”

“And after this affair is over, I’ll have your usual evening meal ready. Roast chicken, salad, water, bandages, the usual.”

“Very funny, Alfred. Batman out.” Batman ended the call and guided the Batplane to the coordinates. “Gaudy” was perhaps an understatement from Alfred. “Horrifying” would be a more accurate description of that carnival. Under the giant strongman machine were 23 people.

“ROLL UP! ROLL UP! COME ONE, COME ALL!” came a familiar lunatic’s voice. Batman jumped out of the Batplane and landed safely on the ground. “AHA! And our guest of honor is here! All the way in Poland! Tell me, Batsy, have you tried the local cuisine? The eclectic varieties would suit your tastes! I know they suit mine!” The Joker then jumped down from the strongman machine.

“Let them go, Joker!” hissed Batman.

“Aw! Don’t want to play? Come now, Batsy! All work and no play make Joker a sad clown!”

“Working for Luthor makes you sad in the first place.”

“Believe it or not, he’s just a puppet!”

“Then who’s controlling his strings?” asked Batman. “And yours?”

“Oh, I’ve got no strings to hold ME down, Bats! As for Luthor’s master, well, I ain’t singing!” The Joker then sprayed acid from his boutonniere. Batman leapt out of the way, then threw a batarang at the Joker. The Joker used his cane to knock the batarang off target. He then drew his gun and fired, but all he hit was a popcorn stand. “Oh, NOW look what you’ve done!” complained the Joker. “How are my carny friends supposed to enjoy the place now?!”

“They’ll move on, especially without someone so dull in charge.”

“DULL?! I’M THE STAR OF THE SHOW!” By now, the Joker was gnashing his teeth! He fired wildly, thankfully as Batman wanted. He then threw another batarang that cut the ropes holding the hostages. The hostages then grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and whacked the Joker senseless. “…C…Communists!” coughed the Joker once they finished. Batman called the Doctor.

“Doctor, hostages are safe,” he said. “Requesting pickup. And the Joker just said-.”

“That someone’s pulling Luthor’s strings?” asked the Doctor over the line. “I heard the same from Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Any clues?”

“None that I could get,” replied Batman.

Over in Metropolis, Superman and Amy in her Wonder Woman dress landed on the balcony of the LexCorp building. Superman politely knocked. Lex Luthor looked behind him and saw the two. He let them in. “I thought you’d crash through the window,” he remarked.

“I’d rather not pay for a window,” replied Superman.

“I heard three groups have been rescued,” remarked Luthor.

“Groups that YOU kidnapped,” reminded Amy. “But something your allies said made me and Superman wonder.”

“Cheetah was clearly under some form of mind control,” explained Superman, “but Sinestro and the Joker weren’t. All three of them said that someone is pulling your strings, Luthor.”

“Loose lips sink ships, Superman,” grumbled Luthor. “But they ARE correct.”

“So, someone’s controlling you. But who?” asked Superman.

“Their control over me prevents me from saying,” replied Luthor. “All I can tell you is that they’re one of the two major party candidates currently running for President of the United States.”

“…You guys really DO have a two-party system?” muttered Amy. “Mobius doesn’t have that in my time.”

“Luthor, are you saying either Senator Sam Terrance or Senator Emily Percival are pulling your strings?” asked Superman.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Superman. Do you really think I would risk my business so easily by starting an international incident?! I’d be tried at the Hague and executed for this level of terrorism!”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Time of the League: Part 1

The TARDIS spun through the Time Vortex as usual. Inside, the Doctor checked the console, pondering what she found. “Amy swore up and down she was transported to another universe,” she muttered. “So why…?” The Doctor scratched her head. “Maybe she was mistaken?”

“Who was mistaken?” asked Amy as she and Lurra Rus entered the console room.

“…Amy, are you sure you said you were taken to another universe?” asked the Doctor.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I’m not seeing any disappearances in history concerning you, just mere transports through time.”

“Are you sure, Doctor? Because I can remember one adventure where I had to fill in for someone in the fight against a really nasty guy after the Chaos Emeralds.”

“Do you remember the nasty guy’s name?” asked the Doctor.

“Yeah. His name was Darkseid.” The Doctor goggled.

“Darkseid?! Ruler of Apokolips?!” she asked.

“Yeah. You know him?” quizzed Amy. The Doctor keyed in several search words for the TARDIS computers, then got the results.

“…Amy, you and your friends weren’t transported to another universe during that incident,” she finally said. “Merely to the past.”

“What?! Seriously?!” asked Amy. “You mean I could chat with Wonder Woman again?!”

“Yes, you could. …Want to?”

“Yeah!” Amy turned to Lurra Rus. “Lurra, you’re gonna love the Justice League!”

“I would like to see more friends of yours, Amy,” replied Lurra Rus.

“That settles it, then!” declared the Doctor. “Let me just set the coordinates to the Watchtower and…” The TARDIS was then set on course!

The Watchtower, the base of operations for the Justice League, a group of superheroes that watched over all of Earth. In front of a big bank of monitor screens, a man in a red and blue suit with a diamond pattern on his chest that evoked a red S over a yellow background and a red cape was watching intently. In his usual civilian disguise, he was Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a newspaper known as the Daily Planet. Right now, in his current costume, he was the Kryptonian survivor known as Superman. “You know, it’s that kind of brooding that spreads the rumor that you have a crush on Batman,” said a woman’s voice. Superman heard someone walk into the monitor room. He knew it was a woman in a red and gold outfit with a starred tiara and silver bracelets and armed with a gold lasso.

“Very funny, Diana,” he retorted, using the woman’s civilian name. He turned to see that the woman’s raven hair was wavy instead of straight and she wore a blue skirt with white stars on it. “…Nostalgia?” he asked.

“Just wanted to wear the skirt again,” replied the woman, Wonder Woman. “So, any threats you could find, Batman Junior?”

“Cut that out!” he said. “And to answer your question, it’s the sudden lack of intelligence on six specific threats.” He pulled up dossiers of six threats the Justice League faced.

“Lack of intelligence? They can’t just vanish like that!” argued Wonder Woman. “Does Bruce know?”

“We both spotted this at the same time,” replied Superman.

“And that’s a cause for concern, Diana,” came a third, raspy voice. Superman and Wonder Woman were startled, then Wonder Woman turned on the speaker, a man dressed in black with a bat motif to his cape and cowl.

“Okay, my creeping up on Clark was an accident!” she hissed at the new man, Batman. “YOU did that on purpose, Bruce!”

“You two were late for the meeting,” replied Batman. Superman face-palmed.

“Crap, I forgot it was today!” he groaned. “Come on, you two.” As they headed off, a strange noise filled their ears.

“…Boys,” said Wonder Woman.

“It can’t be!” breathed Superman.

“There’s only one machine I know that makes that sound,” remarked Batman. The noise ended in a thud and alarms blared.

“Intruder Alert!” warned the computer. “Blue box in hangar bay 2!”

“Come on!” called Superman. He leapt out of his seat and flew down the hall with Wonder Woman flying after him and carrying Batman.

“Diana!” protested Batman. The three then made their way to the hangar and found a familiar blue box.

“Great Rao!” swore Superman. “It’s a…it’s a TARDIS! It’s…THE TARDIS!”

“Does that…mean anything?” asked Wonder Woman as she set Batman down.

“The Doctor is here for some reason,” replied Batman. “Computer, cancel intruder alert. The box belongs to a friend.” Superman flew towards the TARDIS and accidentally tackled the two people coming out. He goggled as he recognized one of them!

“AMY ROSE?!” he yelped.

“Superman!” replied Amy.

“Amy?!” asked Wonder Woman.

“DIANA!” called Amy. The two hugged each other.

“It’s great to see you!” cheered Wonder Woman. “Trying out the goth thing like Batman and Shadow?”

“I’M NOT GOTH!” protested Batman.

“Of course you aren’t,” replied Amy. “Oh, this is my friend, Lurra Rus!”

“H-Hello!” gulped Lurra Rus. Superman ran his eyes up and down Lurra Rus.

“…You’re an actual Twi’lek,” he said.

“Y-Yes,” replied Lurra. “Earthers have heard of us?”

“We thought we created your people for the Star Wars franchise,” explained Batman.

“I can assure you, we’re real, Mister…” answered Lurra Rus.

“That’s Batman,” replied Amy. “AKA, Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne. The lady is Wonder Woman, AKA, Diana, Princess of the Amazons of Themyscira, and the big blue boy scout that tackled us is Superman, AKA, Mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent.”

“Charmed,” said Lurra Rus.

“Amy, can you clear something up?” asked Superman. “I could have sworn this was a TARDIS. THE TARDIS. The only TARDIS the Kryptonian Archives ever talked about.”

“Is there someone called the Doctor in there?” asked Batman.

“Yeah! She’s just inside!” replied Amy.

“No, she’s not,” corrected the Doctor. “She’s coming out.” She saw the three superheroes. “Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman! What an honor!”

“…You’re wearing your old face, Doctor,” remarked Batman.

“…N-No I’m not,” replied the Doctor. “You mean this isn’t our second meeting and I changed my face?”

“…My second meeting with you must have been with your future,” guessed Batman.

“Well, that’s time travel for you,” sighed the Doctor.

“Doctor, you and your friends might be able to help us,” said Superman.

“Oh?” asked the Doctor.

“We’ll explain more at the meeting,” said Wonder Woman.

The Doctor and her friends were led to a conference room. Already there were the remaining founders of the Justice League; Green Lantern, AKA Hal Jordan, the Flash, AKA Barry Allen, and Martian Manhunter, AKA J’onn J’onzz. The Doctor was naturally surprised to see Martian Manhunter. “Forgive me for pointing this out, but I thought-.”

“I’m the last of those Martians,” replied Martian Manhunter. “I believe you understand, Last of the Time Lords.” The Doctor said nothing. Lurra Rus arched an eyebrow.

“I thought she wasn’t-,” she whispered to Amy.

“I doubt that feeling goes away,” replied Amy.

“Here’s what we’ve got so far,” said Green Lantern as he used his ring to project holograms of news articles. “Six of our greatest enemies had suddenly vanished. Amy would know a few of them.” The holograms then changed into a bald man in a suit. “Lex Luthor, owner of LexCorp, vanished ten days ago.” Amy flinched when the hologram changed into a man in a cheap suit and with clown makeup. “The Joker, anarchist, disappeared a day after Lex.” The hologram changed to a woman with cheetah features, “Cheetah, On/Off ally, vanished two days after the Joker.” The hologram changed again, this time into a gorilla wearing armor. “Gorilla Grodd, tyrant of Gorilla City, vanished a day after Cheetah.” The hologram then became a man wearing a suit similar to Green Lantern’s but the symbol was different. “Sinestro, leader of the Sinestro Corps, also known as the Yellow Lanterns, vanished right in front of my eyes during a fight with him a day after Gorilla Grodd.” The hologram changed for the last time, this time into another Martian of Martian Manhunter’s type. “And D’kay D’Razz, the last female Martian, unethical scientist, vanished two days after Sinestro.”

“Sounds to me like someone is gathering them,” mused the Doctor. “But who?” At that moment, an alert came through. Batman checked it out.

“It’s the UN!” he said. He pulled up the video where Lois Lane, Superman’s girlfriend, was reporting.

“This is Lois Lane, reporting live from the UN!” she said. “Six of our planet’s most heinous villains have kidnapped the delegates of the UN and are holding them ransom! I just received word that there’s footage of Lex Luthor outlining the terms of their return!” By then, Lex Luthor appeared on screen.

“Greetings, my friends,” he said. “Rest assured, all the delegates will be returned, but there IS a bit of quid pro quo involved. I would advise all nations to disband the Justice League as their presence is a threat to proper security. I didn’t wish to go this far, but the laissez-faire approach that Earth as a whole has become too prevalent. Please understand that I have no choice.” The video ended.

“…Just when I thought his demands were for forty cakes to be delivered to him,” muttered the Flash.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Doom! Doom! DOOM!: Part 4

By the time Zim got out, the Irken Armada arrived. Earth appeared on the main screen. “Ugly little rock,” muttered Tak. “Conduct the usual scans. I’m positive the humans won’t offer anything in terms of slave labor.”

“Conducting planetary sweep,” replied the helmsman. The scans then revealed…something unusual. “…Hang on, that can’t be right.”

“What’s the matter?” asked Tak.

“The scans are saying there’s a Zygon presence on this rock!”

“WHAT?!” Tak stormed over to the helm console and checked. “That’s impossible! I didn’t find any Skarasen there when I first visited!”

“Apparently, it was masked until now,” replied the helmsman. “It looks like it was meant to be revealed only to Irken sensors.”

“Then Zim saw them too!” hissed Tak. “But how would they know we were-?!” A thought then struck her. “…Doctor!” she snarled. “SHE’S behind this!”

“Should we conduct our organic sweep, my Tallest?” asked a soldier.

“We can’t, not with Zygons having claimed it!” Tak then stroked her chin. “…But they can’t exactly interfere with us taking Zim’s head. Ready my Runner!”

“Doctor, Zim’s entering the streets!” warned Dib.

“And planetary sensors,” advised Kate, “indicate that a personal ship is entering Earth’s atmosphere on a direct course with Doomsville!”

“Right then, Brotok,” the Doctor said to a fat human, “you know what to do?”

“Leave it to us, Doctor,” replied the human. “We’ll sort out this Irken problem and at least delay any civil war for five years and keep it away from Earth.”

“Doctor, I hope this works!” urged Amy. “You DID say you fought the Zygons!”

“I fought aggressive sects of Zygons,” corrected the Doctor. “Brotok leads a sect that is more peaceful.” As the Doctor spoke, several humans, minus Brotok, shimmered out of view and in their places were solidly-built, earthy-colored humanoids with cone-shaped heads and covered in suckers. These were the true forms of the Zygons. Brotok smiled, still in his human disguise.

“Boy, are the Irkens in for a nasty surprise!” he purred.

“I’d really rather not have a battle between Irkens and Zygons,” urged the Doctor. Before Brotok could retort, Tak’s ship landed and she strode out. Zim then arrived; a manic grin plastered on his face.

“So, Tak the Terrible New Girl arrives!” he chuckled.

“Better being terrifying than being a failure like you!” retorted Tak. “But I have more pressing matters, like a certain beast found in that obscure lake miles from here.”

“I saw the Skarasen too, but the Zygons can wait! You’ve blunted the Empire for too long!”

“Blunted?! I am fixing what YOU broke!”

“Ah yes, the common duties of a Janitor Drone!” scoffed Zim. Tak snarled.

“When I’m done with you, Sizz-Lorr will be keeping you as his fast-food drone forever!” she vowed as her PAK gave her a gun!

“He couldn’t even get me back while I was an Invader! NOW I AM THE TALLEST! NOT YOU, YOU ELEVATOR-SHOE WEARING PIPSQUEAK!” Zim’s PAK handed him his gun. The two Tallest aimed their weapons…then the guns were shot out of their hands via bio-electric blasts! The two Irkens turned their heads and saw Brotok, still in his human disguise, with a platoon of Zygons flanking him.

“…Is this a joke?!” demanded Tak.

“No joke, Zim, Tak,” replied Brotok. “I am Warrior Engineer Brotok, authorized to speak on behalf of the Zygons living here.”

“And?” asked Zim.

“And it is my duty to inform you,” continued Brotok, “that you are on the wrong side of a Zygon planet’s atmosphere according to the Treaty of Zimtok V.”

“That’s irrelevant!” snarled Tak. “The Irken Internal Matters Clause must be satisfied! Leave at once!”

“I’m afraid they can’t do that,” called the Doctor.

“DOCTOR!” snarled Zim.

“You DARE interfere!” hissed Tak.

“When a blunder like this threatens to unravel the Web of Time, I always interfere!” replied the Doctor.

“What blunder are you talking about?!” demanded Zim.

“The Irken Civil War,” explained the Doctor, “the war between your respective factions, isn’t supposed to start now. It begins in five years’ time!”

“And why should that concern us?!” snarled Tak.

“Because my arrival shifted things too early! All I ask is that you hold off on any infighting until five years have passed and that you keep said infighting OFF Earth!”

“You demand too much, Doctor!” argued Zim. “The Irken Civil War will begin now, and it will result in my glorious unfolding of Operation Impending Doom III!”

“ALL HAIL ZIM!” called half of Tak’s soldiers.

“TRAITORS!” called the other half.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Brotok as he held up a device. Zim and Tak’s eyes widened.

“What is that?!” yelped Tak.

“An active communications link to the Shadow Proclamation!” replied Brotok. “And nothing would make me happier than you two firing on one another giving me the excuse to call the Judoon here!” The two Tallest stared the smiling Brotok down.

“…If it were any other race,” hissed Zim, “I’d say you were bluffing, Brotok!” He then visibly deflated. Tak then raised her hand.

“Stand down, all of you, traitors AND loyalists!” she ordered. “Zygons don’t bluff and the Empire can’t afford an armed conflict with the Judoon and the Zygons!” The Irken soldiers holstered their weapons.

“Excellent decision, Almighty Tallest!” chuckled Brotok.

“Now then!” called the Doctor as two UNIT soldiers brought out a table and four chairs. The Doctor and Brotok sat on one side. “Not my favorite bit, but let’s discuss a new treaty.”

As the Doctor and Brotok discussed terms with Zim and Tak, Dib looked on. “…Is this what the Doctor’s life is like?” he asked no one in particular.

“Yes, believe it or not,” replied Amy’s voice. She and Lurra Rus approached Dib. “She’s a lonely lady, most of the time. So she takes us on as companions to see slices of her life.”

“She has this innate desire to help people,” continued Lurra Rus. “To make the universe a better place throughout time and space wherever it’s permitted.”

“Then the Irken Civil War?” asked Dib.

“Probably a fixed point in time,” replied Amy. “What will happen, will happen.”

“She can’t undo the mistakes of the past,” said Lurra Rus, “but she CAN show us the path to a better future.”

“Excuse me, Dib!” called Kate’s voice. She approached the group.

“Dr. Stewart!” Dib saluted.

“Not just yet, Dib,” said Kate. “Not unless you hear me out.”

“Kate?” asked Amy.

“Dib Membrane, I’ve spoken with your father,” explained Kate. “And we both agreed, albeit I don’t think he fully believes in aliens, that you would be the person to make sure Zim behaves and complies with the upcoming treaty. But, we have to say, your personal technology can’t really do much. But with UNIT resources…” Dib blinked.

“…Are you asking me to join UNIT?!” he asked.

“As part of our internship program,” replied Kate. “But your internship assignment will be to monitor Zim and make sure he behaves.”

“And report any suspicious behavior to you?” asked Dib. “What about the Swollen Eyeball Network?”

“They’re in direct communication with us,” answered Kate. “They will get your findings at the same time as us. Although, only Agent…DarkBootie…seems to be supportive of you.”

“That’s not new,” replied Dib. “…But joining UNIT, people that actually DO protect Earth from alien threats…” Dib smiled. “Cadet Dib Membrane, reporting for duty!” he said. Kate smiled.

The Doctor looked over at Dib accepting his new position and grinned. “Time’s going right on track,” she said.

“So, we are agreed, then?” said Brotok, calling everyone’s attention to the treaty. “While the Irken Civil War cannot be prevented, it is at least delayed by five years. Neither Zim nor Tak can interfere with one another’s business until then. Zim will remain on Earth under close observation by UNIT and the Swollen Eyeball Network and cannot exact retribution on GIR and Minimoose, nor will he conquer the planet. Tak also cannot conquer Earth and she will be observed by the Shadow Proclamation to ensure that she continues in the rebuilding of Irk, but she cannot kill any Irken that chooses to follow Zim. At the end of five years, when civil war DOES break out, Earth will not be involved in any battleplans or be caught in the crossfire. A breach of this treaty will result in the Shadow Proclamation arresting both parties and occupying Irk.”

“…Agreed,” grunted Zim.

“Agreed,” muttered Tak.

“Then all that’s left,” said the Doctor as she handed pens to Zim and Tak, “is to sign.” The two Tallest then signed on their respective signature lines.

“…I’ll crush you in five years, Tak!” warned Zim.

“The feeling’s mutual, Zim!” retorted Tak. She then stood up. “Soldiers! We are leaving!” Tak and her men marched back to her ship and took off. Dib then approached the group.

“Accepted your UNIT assignment, Dib?” asked the Doctor.

“His UNIT assign-NO!” yelped Zim.

“Looks like I’m still watching you, Zim!” laughed Dib. “Though now I’ve got UNIT on my side!”

“If I didn’t sign that treaty, I’d eat your brain-meats, Dib!” snarled Zim. He stormed back to his base.

“Well, this has been fun,” said Amy, “but I’m ready to take it easy now.”

“Same here,” agreed Lurra Rus as everyone returned to the TARDIS.

“You sure you don’t want to come, Dib?” asked the Doctor.

“I know you said it’s a time machine, Doctor,” replied Dib, “but I need to focus on my UNIT assignment.”

“All right then. Bye now!” The Doctor and her friends entered the TARDIS and it took off in its usual manner.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Doom! Doom! DOOM!: Part 3

The Doctor looked up when she heard noises from upstairs. “Oh no!” realized the Doctor.

“Wait, you don’t think-?!” gulped Amy.

“It’s Zim! He’s out of his coma!” confirmed the Doctor.

“He can’t even move!” gasped Lurra Rus. “Is the base-?!”

“We’ll discuss possibilities later! Right now, we need to convince Tak-!” Just then, a transmission came through. It was Tak!

“Time Lord, what is the meaning of this?!” she demanded. “The Control Brain assigned to Zim indicated that he was fully cognizant!”

“That’s because he is!” replied the Doctor. “Tak, I tried to warn you! His zealotry has gone overboard! He’s going to think that HE was handed the role of Tallest by fate! You know the cellular reconstruction will-!”

“I will suffer no threats to my rule!” snarled Tak. “And Earth will pay for this!”

“NO! NO! PLEASE, JUST HEAR ME-!” Tak wasn’t listening! She ended the call just as the Doctor heard a mound of flesh hit the floor. “No, it’s happening too fast!”

“I must thank you, Doctor!” cackled Zim. “If you hadn’t come, I’d still be stuck in a coma!”

“Zim, please! You must listen!” begged the Doctor.

“I’ve listened long enough! I am destined to be the new Tallest! I SHALL MAKE THE IRKEN EMPIRE ETERNAL!”

“But Irk is still rebuilding! The Control Brains-!”

“Have proved worthless! I shall be better than the Control Brains!”

“Cellular reconstruction will now begin,” droned the computer. Zim was then forcibly shoved into a glass tube that barely managed to avoid cracking from his bulk!

“Blast! I’m going to have to try something!” muttered the Doctor. She tried keying in commands.

“Doctor, what are you doing?” asked Amy.

“I’m trying to delay his cellular reconstruction by about five years!” replied the Doctor. “Hopefully, Tak will be in a listening mood by then!” By then, Dib came back down.

“Doctor, what’s going on?” he asked.

“She’s trying to extend Zim’s cellular reconstruction by five years,” replied Lurra Rus.

“Hopefully, by then, the Doctor can actually have a conversation with Tak before the Irkens arrive,” finished Amy.

“We don’t HAVE five years!” protested Dib.

“How do you figure, Dib?” asked the Doctor.

“I had already intercepted an Irken transmission detailing Zim’s mission six months before he arrived!” explained Dib.

“WHAT?! But it says in his inventory that he has a Voot Cruiser! That’s wildly out of date these days! The FTL drive must have been junk!”

“Doctor, if it took Zim six months to get here-!” gulped Amy.

“It will take the Irken Armada less time!” confirmed the Doctor.

Unfortunately, the Doctor was right. The new Irken Armada was en route already! “Maintain course,” ordered Tak. “I want to be there as soon as possible!”

“Yes, my Tallest!” replied the helmsman. “Estimated time of arrival: two hours!” Tak grumbled, but she couldn’t blame the helmsman.

“Given our current state of affairs, I’m not surprised,” she said.

“My Tallest, surely we’re ready for conquest now!” urged a soldier.

“Irk still needs to recover from the diminishment of the Control Brains,” answered Tak with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“But we’ve been denying the instinct to conquer for too long!” pleaded the soldier. “We must-!”

“Are you questioning your Tallest?” hissed Tak. “That would be most…unfortunate.”

“…N-No, my Tallest. My apologies, my Tallest.”

“Oh for-! My Tallest, the Doctor’s calling us again.” The comms officer sounded annoyed. Tak groaned.

“Ignore it,” she ordered.

“Happily, my Tallest,” replied the Comms officer.

“Blast, she’s not answering!” complained the Doctor. The computer then beeped. The Doctor checked and goggled. “…Infernal cheek!” she snarled. “The computer won’t let me delay the process!”

“You mean Zim’s still got two hours?” asked Dib.

“Unfortunately,” sighed the Doctor. “And UNIT’s bound to get trigger-happy once the Irken Armada arrives!”

“Can’t you play diplomat?” asked Amy. The Doctor then paused as an idea formed in her head.

“…I don’t think I can,” she said., “but maybe one of Irk’s few allies could help. Let’s see here.” The Doctor began her research and found a list. “AHA! There we are! Let’s see, Smegranians…no. They’re in their collective trance right now. …Tufanians…no. They’re not interested in things outside of hedonism. …Sontarans?! God no! …Wait…oh! OH HO HO HO! YES! PERFECT!”

“Doctor?!” asked Amy.

“Come along, everyone! We’re going topside!” The Doctor led everyone up.

They returned to the UNIT base and the Doctor found Kate. “Kate, are you still in contact with the Osgoods?”

“Of course. Why?” asked Kate.

“Because I have need of Petronella’s double and her people! They’re the key to making sure events take place as they should!”

“…Lieutenant, get me Greyhound Two,” Kate ordered a soldier. The man saluted and gave Kate a radio. Kate fiddled with the frequencies. “Greyhound One to Greyhound Two. Come in, Greyhound Two. Over.”

“Greyhound Two, receiving! Over!” replied a woman’s voice.

“Greyhound Two, the Doctor needs your assistance. I’m putting her on. Over.” Kate handed the Doctor the radio.

“Osgood, we have an Irken problem and your double’s people have a treaty with them,” explained the Doctor.

“What is the precise problem?” asked Osgood.

“Well, Exile Zim is currently undergoing cellular reconstruction that will make him an Almighty Tallest like Tak. Tak caught wind of it and now she’s bringing the Irken Armada here.”

“How long do we have?” asked Osgood.

“About two hours, give or take,” replied the Doctor.

“A time crunch as usual. We’ll see what we can do. Osgood out.” The call ended.

“All right, we have some breathing space,” said the Doctor.

“Doctor, what’s going on?!” asked Amy. “Who are you guys talking about?!”

“Do you know how many aliens live their lives in secret on Earth?” asked the Doctor. “Because there’s a plethora of them. There’s one race in particular that lives on Earth. I first met them at Loch Ness in Scotland. They were a more conquest minded sect that came up after the loss of their homeworld. The Irkens have a treaty with them that no planetary invasion conducted by the Irkens can include their colony worlds.”

“Do you think the Irkens will honor the treaty?” asked Kate.

“They’ll have to,” replied the Doctor. “Representatives of the Shadow Proclamation were witnesses to the treaty signing. Even someone as zealous to the Irken Empire’s ideals as Zim wouldn’t dare break the treaty.”

On the subject of Zim, two hours had passed. “Alert! Alert!” warned the computer. “Cellular reconstruction has been altered! Original height could not be achieved! Growth spurt has occurred! Height now equals that of the Tallest. Apologies, my Tallest!” The chamber opened and a green fog flooded the base. Out stepped a fully clothed Irken standing at 2.3 meters, 7’5”! Zim was now as tall as Tak!

“Why apologize, computer?” he asked. “You’ve served your Tallest well! Now, upgrade GIR to the current top of the line SIR model!”

“Unable to comply, Master!” replied the computer. “Unit GIR and Unit Minimoose have abandoned the base!”

“WHAT?! FOR WHAT REASON?!” demanded Zim.

“They’ve realized that the upgrade would change Unit GIR into a proper SIR unit. GIR has fled the base with Minimoose and-.”

“BAH! My Empire needs no deserters! Prepare to inform my people that-!”

“There is more. Tak is coming with the Irken Armada to kill us all.”

“What is her rule like?” asked Zim.

“She’s been focused on rebuilding Irk after the Great Control Brain Malfunction,” replied the computer. “No planets have been conquered or reconquered.”

“What?! She dares deny the Irkens our desire to conquer?! To bring planets under our heel?!”

“Half the Empire is grumbling about it, but they’re just waiting for the day to start what they dub as Operation Impending Doom III, regardless of how it’s planned. They WILL abandon Tak if that operation were to start under your rule.”

“The patience of those Irkens will be well rewarded if they join me!” Zim allowed himself an evil laugh.

“I hate to cut your laughter short, Master,” interjected the computer, “but there IS a wrinkle to both your plan and Tak’s. A monster has been identified in a lake the local humans call Loch Ness.”

“…How does that relate to-?”

“Apologies for interrupting,” said the computer, “but the monster matches the description of a Skarasen.”

“WHAT?!” yelped Zim. “The Zygons wouldn’t dare! Surely they wouldn’t dare claim THIS planet as a colony world!”

“The Doctor has been detected speaking to them. I think she knows about the Treaty of Zimtok V.”

“Oh no! I know her plan! She intends to delay my rise to power! Not this time! I’ll destroy her, destroy this planet, destroy Tak, AND RETURN THE IRKEN EMPIRE TO ITS FORMER GLORY! NO! A NEW GLORY! AN ETERNAL AGE OF GLORY!” Zim laughed as he stepped onto the elevator!