The Avengers all raced out to meet Doctor Doom. “All right, Doomsie,” said Iron Man, “you wanna start talking before we start beating?”
“How very droll, Stark,” replied Doctor Doom. “I am not here for conquest, but for asylum.”
“Asylum,” remarked Steve in his patriotic outfit of Captain America, his shield ready for action. “You, Doctor Doom, are requesting asylum. From what?”
“From a madman Thor is familiar with,” answered Doom. “I believe Odin adopted him, Thor?”
“Loki?” asked Thor. “What did you do to anger my brother?”
“I will explain once I am safe inside your tower,” replied Doom. “Now hurry! He’s sure to track me out in the open!”
Inside the tower, the Doctor snuck out of bed, still carrying her shoes. She managed to get back to her box in the commons room. She tried the door. “…Oh, come on, dear!” she complained. “Now’s not the time! …Oh well, always check the shoes, I always say.” She shook her shoes and heard something in them. She turned them upside down and a strange key on a chain then fell out of the right shoe. “Aha! Always lead with the right!” she chuckled.
“Just a moment!” called William as he entered the commons room. “What are you doing?”
“…Just popping into my box,” replied the Doctor.
“In your state? No, you’re going back to bed,” directed William.
“What do you mean, in my state?!” protested the Doctor. “I’m well and good!”
“Your hearts are beating a little fast.”
“Aha! You know I have two hearts! Conclusion?”
“…Okay, yes, you ARE an alien to me, but-.”
“Exactly. So you don’t actually know what is or isn’t healthy for me.”
“Look, Doctor, you’re not fit-!” insisted William.
“And I say I am!” retorted the Doctor.
“Good grief, I heard doctors made for terrible patients, but you, madam, take the whole cake!” groaned William. “Now, kindly get back in bed and rest! Doctor’s orders!” The Doctor was about to protest further when she saw the Avengers bring Doctor Doom past the commons room.
“…Hold that thought,” she said. She dashed out of the room and followed the Avengers.
“No! That’s where their-! Ugh! And I thought Spider-Man was difficult to treat!” complained William as he followed the Doctor.
Doctor Doom was placed in a cell and watched by the purple wearing archer, Hawkeye. “…Your eyes are shut, Barton,” scoffed Doom.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t act in time, Doomsie,” remarked Hawkeye. He then looked up when he heard someone approaching. He saw that it was the Doctor and William. “Hey, Doc-,” he called.
“Kindly refrain from calling me ‘Doc’,” remarked the Doctor.
“Wait, what?” asked Hawkeye.
“Er, Doctor,” said William, “I think Hawkeye was talking about me.”
“Doctor who?” demanded Doom.
“Just the Doctor,” replied the Doctor. “This is Dr….”
“Dr. William Davies,” said William.
“Yes, my new friend, Dr. William Davies. Oh, and this is Clint Barton, better known as-!” continued the Doctor.
“Hawkeye, yes,” dismissed Doom. “We’re both well-acquainted. …Are you that same Doctor that collaborates with that ridiculous UNIT?”
“Still their scientific advisor, I’ll have you know,” replied the Doctor.
“And you still have that…TARDIS?” The instant Doom asked that question, the Doctor became more guarded.
“…What would the Emperor of Latveria want with my TARDIS?”
“It is not what Doom wants with it, but what the son of Laufey wants.”
“So, what, you’re here to warn us that Loki’s planning something with something belonging to the Doctor?” asked Hawkeye.
“A crude, but not inaccurate summation of what I said,” replied Doom.
“Why would he need the TARDIS?” asked the Doctor. “He could just find one of those Infinity Thingamabobs.”
“Because, as it stands, Thanos is once again in possession of the Time Stone.”
“He’s restarting his quest to find the Infinity Stones?” scoffed Hawkeye.
“This TARDIS of yours, Doctor,” continued Doom, “can bring you anywhere at any point in time. Loki would rather not risk wrestling the Space and Time stones from Thanos’ gauntlet.”
“Well, the TARDIS is off limits,” remarked the Doctor. “Besides, I have the key.”
“Wait a minute, that tiny box?” asked William. “That’s your home?”
“Yes, it’s my home,” replied the Doctor. “Thor can tell you how that’s possible. …Although, Asgardians never really bothered learning the dimensional engineering needed to make a TARDIS.”
“I gotta see that for myself,” said William.
“Well, let’s get back there, then.” The Doctor headed back to the commons room with William following, protesting that she needed to be back in bed.
“…You follow any of that?” Hawkeye asked Doom.
“I do believe the Doctor thinks she’s found the best of humanity,” replied Doom. “…I fail to see why she believes Dr. Davies to be that person.”
The Doctor and William arrived back in the commons room. The Doctor retrieved her key from the shoe she dropped and put it into the lock on the box’s door. “Doctor, I must insist for the last time to-!” The Doctor opened the door and went inside.
“Oh, you’ve redecorated!” she said. “Going back to the classics, hm? I really like it!” William rolled his eyes and entered the box…and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Good lord!” he said. He then dashed outside and went around the box, then went back inside. “…This is what Thor meant?! It’s…It’s bigger on the inside?!”
“Infinity contained within a small, blue box!” replied the Doctor. “Welcome, Dr. William Davies, to the TARDIS! Time and Relative Dimensions in Space!”
“…So this thing really CAN take us back in time?” asked William.
“Or forward or, in special cases, sideways!”
“…I SO want to see it all!”
“Perhaps, after this mess with Doom and Loki,” said the Doctor, “you can come with me?”
“You’re serious?”
“As a hearts attack!” replied the Doctor with a grin. “But first…some clothes.” She dashed off into a room. Several articles of clothing flew out. “…Oh, Rassilon, why couldn’t you have made a bra?! …Then again, it would be named the Bra of Rassilon, then we’d need the Stockings of Rassilon, the Garter of Rassilon…might as well open the whole Lingerie Store of Rassilon.” The Doctor then stepped out in what looked like something Queen Elizabeth I would have worn. “What do you think?”
“…Any mess with the Avengers WILL involve running,” replied William. “As beautiful as that dress is…I don’t think you can run in that.”
“…My life DOES involve a lot of running,” conceded the Doctor. “But I WILL be wearing a skirt.” She went back in and wore something that looked like a tutu with stockings and a bodice. “No? …No. …Of course! Ace!” She dashed back into the wardrobe, then came back out wearing a dark-green pleated skirt that went past her knees, a long sky-blue trench coat, a brown floppy hat, and a white shirt. “How about now?”
“You got enough pockets?” asked William, wanting the fashion show to end.
“Oh yes!” replied the Doctor. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got!”
The Doctor and William joined the Avengers in the conference room. “Erm, question,” said Iron Man, “should Dr. Davies be here?”
“Like it or not,” replied the Doctor, “he’s my friend and friends need to be in the loop as much as possible. Now…are we really keeping the Emperor of Latveria here?”
“Friend Doctor is right,” replied Thor. “Doom is a known villain that has lied for his own gains.”
“He can’t possibly do that much against Loki, can he?” asked the Hulk.
“My main concern,” said the Black Widow, “is what if Doom gets into this TARDIS. I have copies of the Doctor’s UNIT files and it clearly states that her box can go anywhere at any point in time.”
“…I’m going to avoid asking the obvious question of how you got my files,” said the Doctor, “and just make a call to UNIT about this so they can tighten security.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t make deals with them, Doctor. They almost killed me when they found me.” The Doctor rolled her eyes.
“They’re an organization I associate with, but damn if they aren’t trigger-happy,” she said.
“I have to side with Nat here,” remarked Iron Man. “Doom’s got a history.”
“Hang on,” said Hawkeye, “what if we can pit them against each other?”
“Clint?” asked Captain America.
“Well, think about it. They’re both power-hungry. We offer the TARDIS up as bait and-.”
“Out of the question!” snapped the Doctor. “One, that’s my home you’re talking about. Two, the TARDIS is too dangerous to be used as bait for someone like Loki or Doctor Doom.”
“I have to agree,” replied Captain America. “One of them could change history as we know it and I’d rather not wake up to a reality where one of them is the god of the universe.”
“Then what else can we-?” Iron Man was cut off when the alarms sounded. Iron Man pulled up holographic security footage of Doctor Doom attaching something to the sides of the TARDIS.
“…We didn’t consider that they’re collaborating, did we?” Thor asked everyone.