Category: Series 2

Everyone at the door dashed inside and shut it. “They’re outside!” warned Amy.

“Hoo boy!” muttered the Doctor. “We’re not ready yet! Where are Rassilon and William?!”

“Right here!” called Rassilon as she and William brought two more boxes.

“Thank goodness! Where have you been?!”

“We had to cannibalize a lot of old machines for half these parts!” protested William. “Rassilon had to walk me through the parts’ description! It took her ages to describe the Epsilon Reticular Gauge in a way I could understand it!”

“I had to keep reminding myself that he’s a medical man, not an engineer,” said Rassilon. The TARDIS then rocked, then a bell rang!

“Laudable effort to explain things, Rassilon,” said the Doctor as she began emptying the boxes in a hurry, “but that may prove academic! That’s the Cloister Bell, everyone!”

“Of all the times to cannibalize the H.A.D.S!” complained Kirby as he got to work connecting and calibrating the parts.

“H.A.D.S?!” asked William.

“Hostile Action Displacement System!” explained the Doctor.

“Something that usually keeps the TARDIS from being destroyed?!” asked Amy.

“An emergency dematerialization away from any destructive force, yes!” replied the Doctor. “But we needed key components from them for this to work!”

“TARDIS computer’s ready for the estimates!” said Rassilon. “200 strong army’s been detected!”

“200 Weeping Angels,” shuddered the Doctor as she fed figures into the console. “That’s pushing it! We’ll have to give it everything! Computer’s calculated the projections! Kirby, Rassilon, it’s time!” The two Time Lords and the Star Warrior wired the segments of the Key to Time to a slapdash machine that seemed to stretch its wires into the console. “Powering up!”

“Feeding through the boosters!” announced Rassilon. The console sparked.

“Potential temporal feedback loop building!” called Kirby. “Projecting perma-lux barrier! No, wait! That’s too early! The flux comparative’s interfering!”

“William! That purple button right there!” called the Doctor. “Press it like you did with Miss Tarae’s TARDIS! 112 BPM!”

“Another one bites the dust then! Here we go!” replied William. He began pressing the button to the beat of Another one Bites the Dust, even singing along.

“Another one bites the dust!

Another one bites the dust!

And another one gone, and another one gone,

Another one bites the dust! (yeah)

Hey, I’m gonna get you too!

Another one bites the dust!” The Time Rotor then started glowing.

“We’re compensating well!” called Rassilon. “Five! Four! Three! Two! One! NOW!”

“WILLIAM, STOP!” called the Doctor. As William stopped TARDIS CPR, The Doctor pulled the take-off lever. The console sparked for a bit, then the TARDIS made its arrival noise and thud. Smoke came out of the console. The Doctor waved it away with her hat and checked the scanner. The other instruments then rebooted. Kirby checked them.

“…We’re just a few yards away from the Angels’ outer perimeter,” he said. The Doctor then smiled.

“Your idea worked, Kirby!” she said.

“Really?!” asked Kirby.

“Let’s take a look outside!” called the Doctor.

Everyone stepped out of the TARDIS to see the Weeping Angels inside a transparent ball of yellow light, being jostled around. “…Wh…What is this?” asked William.

“That, William,” said the Doctor, “is the Weeping Angels gorging themselves on the potential energy of their own lives whilst looking at one another forever! And the TARDIS checked to make sure there weren’t any more Angels! Popstar is clear!”

“…So what do we do with them?” asked Bandee.

“No worries,” said Kirby. “That problem’s about to solve itself.” The bubble then vanished, taking the Angels with it!

“Where’d they go?!” yelped Dedede.

“To a lifeless planet,” replied the Doctor. “We had to convince our potential time energy bubble to go there instead of staying here on Popstar.”

“I’d rather not have any Angels on my lawn,” chuckled Kirby. “…And now that this adventure is over…” He, Dedede, Bandee, and Meta Knight then posed.

“Ooh boy!” said Amy. “Here comes the victory dance!” The four Popstar Warriors then performed a short victory dance before making a final pose. As they posed, Kirby gave up his new Copy Ability and returned to being normal Kirby.

“HAI!” he said.

“Doctor, I’m a grateful king!” said Dedede. “We’ll be holding a feast in your honor!”

“Oh, we appreciate that, King Dedede,” said Amy, “but we have to-.”

“Erm…we can’t really leave yet,” sighed the Doctor. “That trick damaged the TARDIS so much that the old girl needs to rest and recharge its power cells.”

“…Oh.”

“…Well, I think we could do with a short rest,” said Rassilon. “And I’m going to take this opportunity to get myself a new outfit.”

“How about after the feast, Rassilon?” asked Amy. “I could do with some food.”

“Me too,” agreed William.

“…Yes, food IS more important right now,” conceded Rassilon.

“That settles it, then!” declared the Doctor.

At Castle Dedede, the Waddle-Dees prepared a magnificent spread with meats, veggies, and sweets. Kirby and Dedede were the ones eating the most, given their shared love of food. Rassilon blinked. She ate a lot to recover the energy she spent in regenerating, but nowhere near as much as Kirby and Dedede. “It’s a thing with them,” said Bandee.

“I see,” remarked Rassilon.

“Man, that’s good food!” sighed William happily as he patted his belly. “I needed that!”

“You’re telling me!” said Amy. “That was delicious!”

After the feast, the TARDIS crew was brought back to the TARDIS. It looked a lot better now. “Thank you all!” called the Doctor.

“You’re welcome back to Popstar any time!” called Dedede.

“Poyoyo!” said Kirby as everyone waved.

“Bye, Kirby! See you in the next Smash Tournament!” replied Amy. Everyone was back inside the TARDIS and it took off.

“…Goodbye, Doctor,” said Meta Knight to himself. “And good luck.”

As the TARDIS entered the Time Vortex, the Doctor inserted the tracer into its slot. “All right, old girl,” she said to the TARDIS, “you take your time in calculating the next destination. Rassilon, you think you could-?” She noticed she was alone in the console room. “…Rassilon? Amy? William?”

“In the wardrobe!” called Amy’s voice.

“…Ah! Yes! Rassilon!” recalled the Doctor. She headed to the wardrobe. She knocked on the door.

“Come in,” called Rassilon. The Doctor entered to see Rassilon in a blue shirt, skirt, brown jacket, and a brown trilby. “Well?”

“…I think the blue would work better,” remarked the Doctor, “but the rest of the ensemble makes you look like a comedy internet reviewer.”

“…Well, I suppose…” Rassilon ducked behind a curtain, then came out looking like a blue Queen of Hearts. “…What do you think?”

“…Too stuffy,” remarked William.

“…No, then,” sighed Rassilon. She went behind another curtain, then came back out in a patchwork coat!

“Now you’re just mocking me!” hissed the Doctor.

“Yes, I am, aren’t I?” chuckled Rassilon.

“You…you wore that, Doctor?!” asked Amy.

“Yes, during my sixth incarnation,” sighed the Doctor. “My Mid-lives crisis, as it were.”

“You’d fit in at a Pride Parade in that,” remarked William.

“Oh, no doubt,” agreed the Doctor. Rassilon ducked behind another curtain, then came out wearing a blue flamenco dress with a blue rose and bow pinned to the left of her hair.

“I think we have a winner!” she said.

“…Rassilon, we do a lot of running here,” remarked William.

“Oh, don’t worry,” replied the Doctor. “I had a companion that always wore the wrong shoes and she got herself out of plenty of trouble.”

“…Something’s missing,” muttered Rassilon. She then saw a makeup kit. “Lipstick! That’s it!” She got out blue lipstick from the kit and applied it. She then examined herself in the mirror.

“I’m guessing Meta Knight’s accent had an influence,” chuckled Amy.

“Yes, this is the one!” declared Rassilon. “Now, where to next?”

“Rassilon, there’s a mystery here,” remarked the Doctor.

“Doctor?” asked William.

“How did the Angels know where to base themselves?” continued the Doctor. “And how did they know we were after the Key to Time?”

“…Come to think of it, the Autons were after it as well,” recalled Rassilon. “Almost as if…as if someone told them!”

“The Black Guardian,” said the Doctor. “It’s the only logical explanation. They want you to fail.”

“What would be the Black Guardian’s endgame in making me fail, though?” muttered Rassilon. “Unless they view my seeking your help as cheating.”

“Questions, questions, where are the answers?” muttered the Doctor. “We’d better find them by the time we assemble the Key.”

“Agreed,” said Rassilon. William and Amy stood by.

“…I really hate it when they act this way,” muttered William.

“Don’t knock it,” said Amy. “It looks like Rassilon is changing for the better. The Doctor DID call her a tyrant at one point and Rassilon’s not so high-handed and Time Lordish.”

“…It really has been fun,” mused William.

“Hm?” asked the Doctor.

“Nothing,” replied William.

“KIRBY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” protested the Doctor as Kirby inhaled the excess regeneration energy. “THAT’S NOT SAFE FOR YOU!” Rassilon’s glowing then died off and Kirby stopped inhaling. He then flipped in the air and a skull cap appeared on his head with a collar that wrapped around where his shoulders would be and a semi-circle grew above his head at the back. A curve then sunk in at the top of the semi-circle. The strange collar and skull cap turned scarlet while scarlet fabric covered Kirby’s body. “…He…He turned the regeneration energy…into a combat form!” breathed the Doctor.

“He has become Time Lord Kirby!” announced Meta Knight. Everyone looked at the adult Star Warrior. “…Don’t ask,” he mumbled.

“And he’s wearing Prydonian robes!” said the Doctor. “That’s my chapter!”

“Ooooggghhh!” moaned a new voice. There was a new woman in Rassilon’s dress and she was collapsing.

“Rassilon!” yelped the Doctor. She caught the newly regenerated Rassilon in time. The hat tumbled away to reveal curly brown hair that went to her shoulders and lightly-tanned skin.

“That regeneration must have drained a lot of her energy upon release,” remarked a voice.

“Holy crap! Move aside!” called William. He brought out his stethoscope and listened to Rassilon’s hearts-beat. “…Okay, it’s stabilizing, but we gotta get her out of here!”

“Right,” agreed the Doctor. She got Rassilon to wrap her arms around hers and William’s shoulders. “Kirby, Amy, think you two can scout ahead? Make sure there aren’t any Weeping Angels?”

“Sure thing!” said the two pink people. …Amy goggled when she heard another voice agree with her. She slowly turned to Kirby.

“…Was…that you?” she asked.

“…I think it was!” replied Kirby. “Amazing! This new form not only gave me the intelligence and abilities of the Time Lords, but the speech of them! I can say things besides ‘Poyo’!”

“Erm, Kirby, laudable,” said the Doctor, “but could you please hurry?”

“Yeah, the new Rassilon’s not getting any lighter,” said William.

“Right, sorry!” replied Amy. She and Kirby looked outside.

“Oof! That’s bright!” said Kirby as he blinked hard.

“You’re telling me!” agreed Amy. Once their vision cleared, they looked around.

“…I’m not seeing any Angels,” said Kirby.

“Nor am I,” said Amy. She called to everyone. “We’re good!” Everyone rushed out into the sunlight.

“Still a sunny day,” remarked the Doctor.

“Yeah, days are a bit longer on Popstar,” replied Kirby. “Now, we need to get to your TARDIS. I think I have an idea.”

“Can you tell me telepathically?” asked the Doctor.

“Sure. It’s a bit involved anyways,” said Kirby. “Contact.”

“Contact.” Kirby and the Doctor shut their eyes and concentrated. After a few seconds and some walking, the Doctor grinned. “There’s an idea!” she said.

“Think it will work?” asked Kirby.

“We’ll need the fourth segment to be sure,” said the Doctor.

“What are you planning?” asked Meta Knight.

“We’re going to make the Weeping Angels gorge themselves on potential time energy,” explained Kirby. “But we need the segments of the Key to Time.”

“Three’s probably enough to make it work,” said the Doctor, “but four would really make it a certainty.”

“Hang on,” said Amy as she checked Rassilon’s dress. “The tracer should be around here! Aha! Here it is!” Amy pulled the tracer out of Rassilon’s sleeve and pointed it in different directions. It crackled louder when it was pointing at what looked like a tomato plant.

“…The Maxim Tomato patch?” asked Kirby.

“Maxim Tomato?” asked William.

“Whenever someone eats one raw,” explained Kirby, “it restores them to full strength.”

“Raw?! Ugh!” shuddered William.

“Don’t knock it!” said Bandee. “It works!” The group approached the Maxim Tomato plant. Upon closer inspection, William could see that there were big, black M’s on the tomatoes themselves. Amy waved the tracer near the Maxim Tomatoes until it crackled at its fastest frequency.

“That one!” said Amy as she touched the tracer to it. The Maxim Tomato then turned into its natural form as a segment of the Key to Time and fell to the ground. By then, Rassilon groaned. Her eyes fluttered open and revealed themselves to be blue.

“My head!” she groaned. She then breathed deeply. “…Okay, recap. I landed on Popstar with the Doctor. We were cornered by Weeping Angels. We were thrown into prison by King Dedede acting on the Angels’ orders. I then used my regeneration to blow a hole in the wall.” She then looked around. “…And it worked.”

“Rassilon?” asked William. “How are you feeling?”

“…Sore all over, Dr. Davies,” replied Rassilon. “But I should be able to walk. …Where did Kirby-?”

“Your excess regeneration energy,” explained Kirby, “gave me this new Copy Ability.”

“…So you’re a Time Lord?”

“Well, in the loosest sense of the title, yes. I can’t regenerate, only come back to life twelve times.”

“Twelve?” asked Amy. “That makes thirteen lives in total.”

“Yes, the Doctor and I,” explained Rassilon, “are special cases. We can regenerate ad infinitum, but when I gave that ability to the others, I made it so the average Time Lord is limited to thirteen lives. Didn’t want Gallifrey to be overcrowded.”

“Hey!” called Dedede’s voice. The King then ran up to them. Meta Knight and Bandee drew their weapons.

“Hang on!” called Kirby. “…King Dedede?”

“…Kirby?!” yelped Dedede. “When did you start talking?!”

“It’s a Copy Ability thing. What are you doing here?”

“I saw you guys escaping and realized I was tired of listening to statues,” explained Dedede. “Those things killed my Waddle-Dees! I won’t stand for it! Doctor, you said you can get rid of them!”

“And thanks to Kirby’s new Copy Ability, I can make good on that promise,” said the Doctor. “But we’re going to need a show of good faith from you.”

“Doctor, Dedede’s just misguided at times,” said Amy. “The only time he was evil was when he was mind-controlled.”

“…Well, there WAS my first encounter with him,” said Kirby, “but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, Doctor, we could use his help. He’s more of a hero than you realize.”

“Kirby speaks the truth,” said Meta Knight. “He’ll pull through when push comes to shove.”

“He kept the Beast Pack from the Forgotten Land off our backs so we could escape and defeat an eldritch horror,” said Bandee. “He’s a hero where it counts.”

“And if saving the life of even one of my loyal subjects means my sacrifice,” promised Dedede, “then I choose to die a King!”

“…I appreciate the sentiment,” said the Doctor, “but no one else is dying to feed the Angels today. Kirby, your Warp Star! We have to get to the TARDIS!”

“Right!” replied Kirby. He summoned the Warp Star and it took everyone back to Kirby’s house. Dedede blinked.

“That is your TARDIS, Doctor?” asked Meta Knight. “I thought it would blend in.”

“Broken Chameleon Circuit,” explained the Doctor.

“Looks kinda small,” remarked Dedede.

“If I got my new intelligence right,” said Kirby, “it’s not as snug as it looks.”

To say Dedede was gobsmacked about the inside of the TARDIS would be an understatement. Bandee was just as surprised. Meta Knight, having heard about a TARDIS before, wasn’t AS surprised, but was honored to be allowed inside one. “H…HOW?!” spluttered Dedede.

“Dimensional transcendentalism,” replied Kirby.

“It…It’s…bigger on the inside!” whispered Bandee.

“Like I said, dimensional transcendentalism.”

“Kirby, we have a lot of work to do,” said the Doctor. “Could you run your plan by Rassilon?”

“Sure thing. Rassilon? You good for pooling our experiences?”

“You can do that?” asked Rassilon. “I think your new Copy Ability is a bit overpowered.”

“Well, I’ll be giving it up when all this is over,” promised Kirby.

“Right, well,” sighed Rassilon, “we better get started. Contact.”

“Contact.” The Star Warrior and the Time Lord spoke telepathically.

“…Amy, you think the Doctor and Miss Tarae did that concerning the roboticized TARDIS?” William asked Amy.

“Probably. They were in there for a short time,” said Amy. “Too short for a verbal workshopping of the plan.”

“Kirby, that’s a great idea!” said Rassilon once she and Kirby were finished. “But we have to work fast. Doctor, where’s the parts storage?”

“William, take Rassilon to the parts storage,” directed the Doctor. “We have until the evening, considering the Angels like darkness.”

“What can we do in the meantime?” asked Meta Knight.

“You all can act as watchmen,” replied the Doctor. “Don’t engage the Angels, you hear? You come back inside the instant you see a wing!”

“Got it!” replied Dedede.

The work was taking a good chunk of the day. Night was starting to fall. King Dedede and Amy were outside with Bandee and Meta Knight standing at the door. By now, it was getting dark enough to risk flashlights. “…Why the heck does the Doctor call these things torches?” asked Dedede.

“I think it’s a British thing,” replied Amy. She then saw his confused face. “…From Great Britain, on Earth.”

“How big IS Earth?” muttered Dedede. …His light then flickered. “Erm, Amy!”

“Mine too!” gulped Amy. The lights came back on in time to see the outline of multiple Weeping Angels ready to strike!

On the bridge, the Doctor and Rassilon were still working out the anomalies. “I haven’t seen this much in quite a while,” remarked Rassilon.

“The amount of potential time energy could rip Popstar in half,” muttered the Doctor. Just then, a call came to the bridge through the comms unit. Meta Knight took the call.

“Report,” he said.

“Meta Knight, it’s Amy! We’re being chased by a statue!” The Doctor’s eyes went wide. She pushed Meta Knight out of the way and took over.

“Amy, that statue, is it an angel?” she asked.

“Yes! It moves whenever-!”

“Take William and get out of there! Don’t take your eyes off it!” urged the Doctor.

“Doctor, it’s William!” came William’s voice. “That’s gonna be a bit hard! The lights are flickering down here!”

“Just do it! Hurry! If that thing touches you, I can’t get you back, even with the TARDIS!”

Down in the cargo hold, Amy and William made their way to the door with the angel statue appearing in a different spot every time the lights kicked back in. It was like an animal toying with its prey! William found the door controls and pressed a button. The door opened. He and Amy quickly left the cargo hold and shut the door just as the angel appeared in the spot they inhabited. William then picked up Amy and carried her over his shoulder. “HEY!” protested Amy.

“Keep an eye on the door!” replied William. “We don’t know how strong it is!” He then took off with Amy looking behind at the door. She saw distinctive bulges like fists caving in the metal of the door on the other side! The lights then flickered.

“Must go faster! Must go faster!! MUST GO FASTER!!”

“I know! I KNOW!!”

The Doctor stood at the bridge door, looking out for her friends. The lights started flickering. “Come on! Where are you?!” she begged her friends.

“HOLD THAT DOOR!” called William’s voice. The Doctor saw William carrying Amy and reached her hand out.

“HURRY!” she said. She successfully grabbed William’s hand and pulled him and Amy onto the bridge just as the angel statue was halfway down the hall. She then shut the door on the angel. “That won’t hold for long, but it WILL give us enough time to sound the alarm!”

“Doctor, what-?!” asked Amy.

“Later, I’ll explain later! Right now, we need to evacuate this ship!”

“It’s one statue,” remarked Meta Knight. “What can it do?”

“Meta Knight, the Weeping Angels are fast and can kill you before you got your hand on your sword!” replied Rassilon. “Now give the order to abandon ship!” Meta Knight wasn’t sure…until the door started buckling.

“That thing’s breaking through!” yelped William. Meta Knight hit the ship-wide address button on the intercom system.

“All hands, this is Meta Knight. Abandon ship. Repeat, abandon ship. The Halberd has been compromised. This is not a drill. Abandon ship.” He saw on the security cameras that the Waddle-Dee crew were evacuating the ship. He then set the self-destruct. “Kirby! Your Warp Star!” called Meta Knight. Kirby nodded, put his right arm out, and a giant, yellow, five-pointed star arrived, scooping everyone up.

“Hang on tight!” called Amy. The Warp Star then took its passengers out of the ship, just as it exploded! The star then brought everyone to the gates of a castle.

“Poyo! Dedede!” said Kirby.

“Yes, his Majesty must be informed!” agreed Meta Knight. “There might be more of those statues.”

“There most certainly will be more, but we have some breathing room,” said the Doctor.

“Doctor, what WAS that thing?!” shuddered William.

“That kind of being has many names,” replied the Doctor. “The Lonely Assassin, the Kind Murderous Psychopath, but all races know them as the Weeping Angels. They’re quantum-locked creatures that feed on the potential time energy of their victims.”

“The Weeping Angels,” supplied Rassilon, “are statues when observed, even by members of their own kind. That’s why they cover their faces. When unobserved, they’re the fastest creatures in the universe. The way they get the potential time energy they need is by touching their victim and sending it far into the past so they can live out the rest of their lives in the past.”

“…The Waddle-Dee,” realized William. “The Angel on the ship sent him to the past!”

“Do they have anything to do with counting down?” asked Amy.

“Oof, yeah, that’s when an Angel is really sadistic,” replied the Doctor. “The Angels have their own psychic powers. They can implant themselves into a victim’s mind when observed. One of their examples of mental control is by having the victim count down the minutes until their death.”

“Meaning that Angel fed well,” remarked Rassilon. “We’re not dealing with desperate Weeping Angels.”

“Don’t know if that improves our situation,” muttered the Doctor.

The group arrived at the throne room. Sitting on the throne was what looked like a humanoid blue penguin in red robes and a skull-cap crown with a pom-pom on it. He looked haggard, as Meta Knight said. “Your Majesty!” called Meta Knight. The Penguin looked up.

“Oh, hello, Meta Knight,” he said. “Kirby. …Amy Rose?”

“That’s me, King Dedede,” replied Amy. “If I might say something, you look terrible.”

“I’ve…got a lot on my mind, Miss Rose,” answered Dedede. “What brings you here? And who are your new friends?”

“Your Majesty, I’m the Doctor,” introduced the Doctor. “And these are William and Rassilon. We come here on a quest to find something called the Key to Time, but your planet is besieged by creatures that can send a person to the past, condemning them to die in a different time zone.”

“The Weeping Angels?” asked Dedede.

“Then you know of the threat we face?” asked Meta Knight.

“You could say that, Meta Knight,” replied Dedede. He briefly turned the lights off, then switched them back on again to reveal that the throne room was filled with Weeping Angels!

“You didn’t!” hissed the Doctor.

“This ain’t what you think it is, Miss Doctor,” said Dedede. “They already took a few of my Waddle-Dees before my eyes and now they’re using one of their voices!”

“He’s right, you know,” said a Waddle-Dee’s voice.

“Hey, wait! That’s the Waddle-Dee that was in the cargo hold!” yelped Amy.

“No, that’s the Angels using their victim’s voice,” replied Rassilon. “Sadists, the lot of you!”

“That’s rich, coming from you, Lord President Eternal,” mocked the Angels’ voice. “We know you’re after the Key to Time. You will surrender the means of tracking it to us.”

“And if we don’t?” asked the Doctor.

“We always wanted to try the potential time energy of a Time Lord. Dedede, we’ll give them some time to decide. We trust you have accommodations for them.”

“…Guards, take them all to the dungeon,” Dedede ordered his men, a face of regret on his beak. Waddle-Dees with spears then came in and escorted them out of the throne room.

“Your Majesty, I CAN help you!” called the Doctor. “Please, just trust me!” Dedede just sighed as they were taken away.

The TARDIS crew, Kirby, and Meta Knight were all in the same cell as a Waddle-Dee wearing a blue bandana. The poor little guy looked miserable. “They got you too, Kirby?” he mumbled.

“Bandee…” replied Kirby as he patted the poor Waddle-Dee.

“We’re doomed now!” wailed the Waddle-Dee, Bandee. “They’re forcing the King to be a jerk again and now they kidnapped Kirby!”

“Come on,” replied the Doctor, “where there’s life, there’s hope. And…Rassilon…”

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Rassilon.

“How long has your hand been glowing?” Rassilon goggled and realized her hand was glowing!

“No! Not yet! Please!” she begged.

“What’s going on with Rassilon?!” asked William.

“It’s the regeneration process!” replied the Doctor. “Her body had suffered fatal damage somewhere, so it’s rewriting itself! Rassilon, how long have you been holding it back?!” Rassilon sighed.

“Since you expelled Ginyu from my mind,” she finally answered. “It caused enough damage to the brain that it triggered the process. Amy stumbled across it when I blundered into her room after that business with the Kamen Riders and Autons and I made her swear not to tell.”

“Why are you holding it back?” asked the Doctor.

“Because the Black Guardian set a limit to how many bodies I can have. Six bodies for six segments and I used five bodies in getting my bowship time-travel capable! The next body is the absolute limit. Once I waste it, I fade!”

“…Holding back a total regeneration for days,” muttered the Doctor. “I couldn’t even do that. A few hours at most, and then I make the goofy and damaging mistake of practically exploding into a new body inside the TARDIS. She hates that, let me tell you.” That was when the Doctor got an idea. “…Rassilon…”

“Doctor?” asked Rassilon.

“Can you channel your regeneration energy into the wall?”

“Doctor!”

“I’ll keep your next body from getting hurt fatally,” promised the Doctor. “Right now, though, we need to escape.”

“…I’m going to hold you to that. Everyone, stand back!” The Doctor herded everyone to a corner in the cell as Rassilon allowed herself to glow completely. “…All right, Rassilon. It’s up to you,” said the former Lord President Eternal. She then threw her hands towards the cell door, bending her head in the same direction, and golden light and energy erupted from her body! The energy destroyed the door and blew a hole in the wall. Kirby then got an idea and inhaled in Rassilon’s direction!

“That doesn’t make sense,” muttered the Doctor as she checked the console. “No planet looks like that.”

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Rassilon as she approached the console.

“Rassilon, do you know of any planets that look like stars?” quizzed the Doctor.

“…N…Not that I know of. Why?”

“The coordinates for the fourth segment seem to be indicating that such a planet exists.” The Doctor displayed the coordinates on the scanner, even giving an image of the planet. It was a yellow, five-pointed star with two rings around the planet intersecting in the middle.

“…Rather odd,” remarked Rassilon. “What does the TARDIS say it’s called?”

“It appears the name of the planet is…Popstar.”

“Popstar?!” asked Amy’s voice as she and William entered the console room. “Let me see! Let me see!” She saw the planet on the scanners. “Ooh! I know people from there!”

“Amy?” asked the Doctor.

“Popstar is home to a place called Dream Land, a kingdom known for peace and quiet!” explained Amy. “It’s the perfect little land if you like that sort of thing! Though, usually, a few warriors from it compete in a tournament Sonic joined called the Smash Brothers Tournament!”

“I think I heard about that tournament,” mused Rassilon. “Fighters from various timelines and sub-dimensions compete in a fighting competition.”

“I’m usually a spectator in that tournament,” continued Amy, “but I made friends with the fighters from Popstar! Come on! Let’s go see!”

“Well, here’s hoping Popstar stays peaceful,” said the Doctor as she set the TARDIS on course for Popstar.

In a grassy landscape, next to a tree, a dome-shaped house sat on a hill. It was a bright, sunny day and inside, the owner of the house was snoozing away. The owner…wasn’t humanoid, for a start. It was a pink ball with flipper arms and big feet, but no legs. Its face was in the center of the ball, two eyes, cheeks, and a mouth. It also identified as male. The pink ball-person snoozed, snoring softly. His sleep was disturbed when the sound of the TARDIS arriving echoed through his house. “Mmm! Poyo?” he mumbled when he woke up. He got out of bed and waddled to the door to look outside. He blinked in surprise when the TARDIS materialized right in his front yard. The TARDIS made its usual thud and opened the door. “Poyo?” quizzed the pink creature. The TARDIS crew then came out. Amy’s face lit up when she saw the creature.

“KIRBY!” she said.

“Amy?!” asked the creature.

“That’s right, Kirby!” replied Amy. “I know it’s not my usual red dress, but-.”

“Amy!” cheered the creature happily as it jumped into Amy’s arms.

“Whoa! Hey!” laughed Amy. She then turned to her friends. “Everyone, this is Kirby, the hero of Popstar!”

“Hiii!” greeted Kirby.

“A baby Star Warrior?!” yelped the Doctor.

“I thought Star Warriors were myths,” remarked Rassilon.

“Kirby’s no myth,” assured Amy. “And neither is his appetite. William, you got that cake I asked for?”

“Right here,” replied William as he pulled out a pink cake with strawberries on it. Kirby’s eyes lit up. He then opened his mouth and created a powerful suction! “WHOA! HEY!” yelped William. Kirby then sucked the cake up and ate it, plate and all. Kirby then burped and the plate came out, clean as a whistle.

“Still a hungry boy, aren’t you, Kirby?” giggled Amy.

“Poyo!” agreed Kirby.

“Definitely a baby Star Warrior,” said Rassilon. “But there must be an adult one nearby.”

“That would be Meta Knight,” explained Amy. “Although, I wouldn’t say he’s nearby. …Unless…Kirby, do you know where Meta Knight’s ship, the Halberd, is?”

“Meta?” asked Kirby. He then thought for a bit, then grinned. “Poyo!” he said with a smile.

“You do? Show us!”

“Amy, can we really afford to see this Meta Knight?” asked the Doctor. “We still need to look for the Key to Time segment here.”

“Don’t worry, Meta Knight can help us find it if he understands the situation,” replied Amy. “Kirby, lead the way!”

“Poyoi!” called Kirby as he took off to the east.

“Come on, everyone!” called Amy. The group ran after Kirby.

A navy-blue ball person with a mask, glowing yellow eyes, a cape, armored boots, mitt-style gloves, and a golden sword with curved blades jutting out of the main one was on the bridge of his personal warship. He had detected strange readings of a temporal nature and was trying to puzzle them out. He couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him. As he studied the readings, an orange thing with a face, but no mouth, approached him. This was a Waddle-Dee and this specific one wore a sailor’s hat. “Meta Knight, Sir!” he said.

“Hm?” asked the ball-person, Meta Knight. “What is it, Sailor Waddle-Dee?”

“Kirby is at the entrance ramp to the Halberd, Sir,” reported Sailor Waddle-Dee. “He has companions with him. One of them looks like Amy Rose from Mobius, but in a rather…goth outfit.”

“…Bring them to the bridge,” ordered Meta Knight.

A few minutes later, the TARDIS crew and Kirby were brought to the bridge. Meta Knight was still pouring over the readings. “I presume you have business here, visitors,” said Meta Knight.

“…Is the black really that out of place for me?” asked Amy.

“I normally see you in red,” replied Meta Knight as he turned to face everyone. “So, Miss Rose, you decided to visit Popstar. But I don’t see Sonic, unless he’s out for a run as usual.”

“Not this time,” said Amy. “I’m here with my new friends. Meet William from 21^st Century Earth and Rassilon and the Doctor of-.”

“Rassilon?!” Meta Knight drew his sword. “So, if that’s THE Doctor, then I must surmise that the Time War has begun again! Not here on Popstar! You and the Daleks won’t touch it!”

“We can’t restart the Time War anyway,” replied Rassilon. “Gallifrey is no more, Star Warrior.”

“Rassilon speaks the truth,” said the Doctor. “Besides, we have more pressing issues.”

“Do you now?” hissed Meta Knight.

“Meta Knight, I promise, we’re not here to recruit you for any war,” said Amy.

“We’re on a quest for the Key to Time,” explained the Doctor. “Have you heard of it?” Meta Knight sheathed his sword.

“I’ve heard that bedtime story, yes,” he said.

“It’s not a bedtime story, Mr. Meta Knight,” replied William. “We have half the segments already.”

“The next one is here on Popstar,” explained Amy. “We have a tracer, but we need to know where on Popstar it is.”

“If I can suss out the temporal anomalies my ship is picking up,” said Meta Knight, “perhaps I can help and get the Time Lords off this planet.”

“Poyo?” asked Kirby.

“Kirby, the Time Lords were dangerous, setting rules upon time itself and keeping other powers from discovering time travel to the extent they reached,” replied Meta Knight.

“…The sad thing is, that kind of gate-keeping is one of the reasons I left Gallifrey,” remarked the Doctor.

“What temporal anomalies are you getting?” asked Rassilon.

“Perhaps you can figure it out,” remarked Meta Knight as he stepped aside to let the Doctor and Rassilon do their work. The two Time Lords checked over the readings.

“…That looks like…” said Rassilon.

“Potential time energy,” finished the Doctor. “Like someone is dropping people into the past to live out their remaining years.”

As the two Time Lords worked, Amy, Kirby, and William followed a Waddle-Dee as he led them on a tour of the Halberd. “King Dedede is very generous with funding this ship,” said the Waddle-Dee. “Though I suspect it comes from the taxes he collects.”

“How IS Dedede these days?” asked Amy.

“…Looking kind of haggard. Two.”

“Haggard?” asked William. “Maybe I should make a house call. You said he’s a king. Where’s his castle?”

“Oh, not far from here. Two.”

“…Two?” quizzed Amy.

“Hm? Two what?” asked the Waddle-Dee.

“No, you just said two,” said Amy.

“No, I didn’t!” protested the Waddle-Dee.

“I’m sure you did.”

“I didn’t! Two.”

“I heard that,” said William. “You just said two.”

“You guys are crazy! I didn’t count!” Just then, the lights flickered. “Oh for-! I just had them fixed! One.”

“Amy, something weird’s going on here,” muttered William.

“No kidding. Waddle-Dees don’t count absentmindedly,” replied Amy. She then saw something. “Hey, that wasn’t there earlier, was it?” she asked. William turned to see that a statue was there. It looked like an angel in a chiton covering its face as if it were crying.

“Huh, interesting art piece,” said William. “Hey, Waddle-Dee, can you-?” he turned to speak to the Waddle-Dee, only he wasn’t there. “Waddle-Dee?”

“Huh?” Amy now looked around. “Hey, Waddle-Dee!” called Amy. As she looked, she saw that the statue wasn’t covering its face. “…Um, William…” she said. William looked at the statue and goggled.

“That thing was covering its face, right?” he said. The lights flickered. When they were fully on again, the statue had a sadistic smile on its face and moved closer, its arms outstretched, ready to grab the two!