Emily Williams, Richard’s twin sister, checked the unconscious Doctor’s hearts-beat as her brother and his best friend, Michael Archer, looked on. “Hearts are beating normally,” she reported. “She’s clearly breathing.” She then waved a scanner over her. “Mental activity’s a little off…but that’s probably because the brain’s still rewriting itself. It’s coming along nicely. All in all, from what you’ve told us, Michael, this is probably her most stable regeneration yet.”
“Thank goodness,” sighed Michael. He then recalled that Jack was telling his story to Richard’s family. He had already told them about how a companion of the Doctor’s, Rose Tyler, had made him immortal.
“So, there I was, ankle-deep in Dalek dust, and she goes off without me. Apparently, the TARDIS didn’t exactly like me, cause only Time Lords are supposed to be immortal. I still had this.” He revealed a strange strap on his wrist with a touch screen on it. “I used to be a Time Agent. It’s called a Vortex Manipulator.”
“The cheap scooter of all time-travel devices,” snarked Michael.
“All right, so it’s not the TARDIS!” grumbled Jack. He then continued his story. “I figured 21st Century Earth would be my best bet to reunite with the Doctor, except I got it a little wrong. Got to 1869 instead, then this thing burnt out, so it was useless.”
“Q.E.D,” chuckled Michael.
“I had to live through the entire 20th Century to wait for a version of her that would coincide with me.”
“That would have made you more than a hundred years old,” remarked Lisa.
“And looking good!” chuckled Jack. “I based myself near a rift in Cardiff and waited for her, then I get a signal and met up with the Doctor again (using a new body) and then got the full story from her, him rather.”
“That unfortunately happens with the Doctor’s companions,” said Michael. “They change so often that she runs the risk of forgetting us.”
“OI! I DO NOT!” shouted a new voice. Emily was sitting by a fully awake Doctor, her arms folded.
“I was trying to tell you guys that she was up,” she said.
“And you, of all people, Michael! I thought you were one of my biggest fans! I don’t forget my companions! I can’t!” snarled the Doctor. “I always check on them when I can!”
“…I suppose that’s true,” chuckled Michael, still a little put out that the Doctor looked like an old companion. It wasn’t the first time the Doctor got a face from someone else, but he never recalled any of them being from former companions. The Doctor then got a good look at Michael.
“You’ve changed,” she muttered.
“You can talk!” scoffed Michael. “Which regeneration is this?”
“…I can’t recall.” The Doctor thought hard for a second. She then brightened up. “Oh well, no use chin-wagging! Let’s see what this all looks like!” She looked in a mirror and gasped. “…I don’t believe it!” She smiled. “I’M FINALLY GINGER!” A frown then crossed her face. “And loud. Very loud. Still, rough with the smooth and all that! The eyes and chin are a definite improvement. …As for the nose…well, I’m not sure.” She turned to Michael. “What do you think about this nose? Ah, never mind, I don’t need you to be so nosy!” She chuckled at the joke. “Still, got many things to do. Come on, Jack! Got to make sure peace is the norm. Dona Nobis Pacem and all-!” The Doctor returned to the mirror in horror. “…I know this face! Why do I have Donna’s face?!” She then shut her eyes tight and strained.
“Holy! There’s an energy spike in her body!” yelped Emily.
“Doctor, stop!” Michael grabbed the Doctor’s shoulders and shook her. The Doctor opened her eyes.
“I can’t wear her face!” she insisted. “I’m not THAT important! What if I bump into her?! That knowledge will come back into her head, and she’ll burn to a crisp!”
“That won’t happen, Doctor,” said Jack, his face downcast. “She’s…she’s already gone.” The Doctor gave Jack her full attention. “She had a heart condition. No one could save her. She had a DNR. Donna’s…she’s gone.” The Doctor stumbled to the coffee table and steadied herself on it.
“D…Donna’s…dead?” she asked. “I mean…I never thought…”
“That’s what I tried to tell you before the Sontarans invaded.”
“…Was your universe not ready to let go of Donna?” asked Michael. The Doctor considered his words, then looked in the mirror.
“…Donna Noble, I know you’ll never remember me again, but I promise I’ll make you, the most important woman in the universe, proud!” She then took a breath, then adopted a smile. “…Could I have fish fingers and custard? I’m starving.”
“Actually, Doctor,” said Megumi, “a few of us are gathering for a party at New Castle Nerd Skull. You and Jack want to join?”
“A party! Sounds excellent! Jack, the F.N.S really knows how to throw a party!”
“Just keep the flirting to a minimum,” urged Michael.
“All right, all right!” Jack sounded a trifle disappointed. As everyone got ready to go, Megumi thought back to other old friends.
“…Haven’t heard from Optimus or Arsha in a while,” she muttered.
Not everyone in the F.N.S could make it to the party. It seemed to be an equal mix of old and new members. As everyone chatted amongst themselves, the music began. It was Hobbit music, a song that played during Bilbo Baggins’ 111th birthday. A few had gotten into the spirit and danced along. Megumi’s nephew, Sora Hishikawa Elizondo, the son of Megumi’s brother, Hiroki, and his wife, Xiomara, looked on at the dancers. His sister, Gabriella, sat by him. “Come on, mi hermano!” she urged. “Ask Sweemar for a dance!” She pointed out one of the blue haired, cloud-dress wearing women dancing by herself. Sora thought about it, then sighed.
“I think I’ll just have another piece of cake,” he muttered.
“Oh no, you don’t!” laughed Gabriella. She then playfully shoved Sora into Sweemar’s arms and the two danced. Gabriella laughed a bit at Sora’s misfortune.
“So, there I was,” the Doctor regaled a man and a woman in a cloud dress, “surrounded by three monstrous Ogrons! They were arguing over how to execute us for the Daleks’ sake, whether they would boil us, or shoot us, or simply slit our throats! Well, they spent so much time on the whyfores and the wherewithals that, the instant the sun rose, boom! The Judoon arrested them all!”
“And the Daleks used these Ogrons as slaves repeatedly?” asked the man, Tom Williams, one of Emily’s twin sons.
“They really ARE insane,” chuckled the woman, Leemii, as she cuddled Tom.
“Well, they ARE Daleks,” mused the Doctor.
Over in a tent, Kaitlyn was helping Tom’s twin brother, Sam, in lighting a firework. Sam held the match to the fuse and lit it. “Got it!” he cheered. Kaitlyn then panicked!
“You’re supposed to stick it in the ground!” she hissed as she shoved the firework at Sam.
“It IS in the ground!” replied Sam as he shoved it back to her. The shoving went back and forth as they argued.
“Outside!”
“This was your idea!” The firework then launched itself into the air, carrying the tent with it and blowing two charred people back. The firework then exploded in a brilliant display of color. Kaitlyn and Sam picked themselves up and watched the whole thing.
“Cool!” breathed Kaitlyn.
“Let’s get another one!” urged Sam. They then felt someone yanking on their ears.
“Why is it,” grumbled Emily as she pulled on Sam’s ear, “that whenever there’s trouble…”
“It’s always you two?” finished Richard as he pulled on Kaitlyn’s.
“Daddy, Aunt Emily, we can explain!” begged Kaitlyn.
“Hey, who’s the Borg cosplayer?” asked a Mobian Monkey, Henry. Everyone turned to see what looked like a Romulan Borg drone.
“…We’ll discuss this later,” Richard growled at his daughter and nephew as he and Emily released their respective kids’ ears. Megumi approached the drone.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” began Megumi. “I’m-” The drone quickly grabbed Megumi’s chin. Richard and a few other partiers rushed to get it away from her, but other drones arrived and restrained them. Megumi’s captor stared long and hard, then smirked.
“You’ve changed,” he remarked. “But dropping the eyeshadow and changing your outfit won’t save you, Megumi Hishikawa. The Author has plans for you, Optimus, and Arsha.” Megumi shoved the drone away and her partiers got out of their captors’ grasp.
“Riders, with me!” she called. Those that she called for had summoned a belt, either by pulling it out of their pockets or just using magic to form it. Those that pulled the belts from their pockets strapped them on and their belts spoke.
“Vortex Driver!” they all announced.
“Crysta Driver!” called the summoned belts. The Vortex Riders then pulled out small blue discs and inserted them into the belts while the Crysta Riders pulled out crystal spheres and pressed a button on them.
“Spark!” called Kaitlyn’s.
“Shade!” announced Kaede’s.
“Devil!” shouted Sam’s.
“Architect!” finished the one belonging to Michael’s son, Adam. The four of them then inserted the spheres into the belts and closed them up. Everyone then struck a pose.
“HENSHIN!” they all shouted. The Vortex Riders then spun the wheels on the belts and a ring based on the wheel formed beneath them and attached armor as the belts changed their outfits into black undersuits. The Crysta Riders were surrounded in mist colored like their crystal spheres, then lightning struck them and the mist vanished to reveal them in their own Rider forms. They had all become Kamen Riders!
“Whoever you all are,” snarled Megumi, Kamen Rider Royal, “you can face it! You’ll never get our power!” She rushed at the Romulan drone and summoned a sword.
“‘When the voice stopped talking,’” called a new voice, “‘a spider-themed Kamen Rider blocked her sword with his own.’”
“Eh?” asked Royal. When the voice stopped talking, a spider-themed Kamen Rider blocked her sword with his own. The sword appeared to be modeled after a snake with the mouth serving as the cross-guard and the tongue serving as the handle.
“Does it look like my soldiers and I need YOUR power?” asked the Rider in the same voice that predicted his actions. He then drove an uppercut into Royal’s jaw, sending her backwards.
“MEGUMI!” called Richard, Kamen Rider Guard, as he dashed to assist his wife.
“Okay, that’s new!” grunted Royal.