Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Supernatural, Doctor Who, the Avengers, Harry Potter or Sherlock (BBC), nor any of the mentioned characters. I do, however, retain the right to point out that this story is purely my idea...
This is my NaNoWriMo entry this year (2012), and is still in progress, thus why in later chapters if it seems to have an issue or doesn't make sense, it is simply because it is unedited. Also, if you could point these issues out, it will make my life easier.
ENJOY...
NaNoWriMo 2012:
SUPERWHOAVENGEPOTTERLOCK
~*The Stars Will Fall Silent*~
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Chapter 1: Vortexes and Other Timey-WimeyTransdimensional Tomfoolery
He was seeing stars…
Not those kinds of stars, well, yes those kinds of stars… but different… It was all rather surreal, watching the bleak gash in the sky twist and writhe in an array of colours, attempting to close in on itself.
It could have been a flash of fanciful thinking on the part of his battered genius brain, but Tony Stark –plummeting to Earth at speeds that would make most men use the in-suit bathroom faster than you could say, 'Mummy'- could have sworn that something shot past… and someone had been screaming…
He shook his head as the thought slipped away, loosely filed under 'Miscellaneous' in his mental library of Things He Needed To Look Into Later. Frowning against the pounding migraine that was playing a rather rowdy drumset in his mind, the Man of Iron saw familiar faces and memories slipping past his eyes… like his own private movie theatre – of which he had two, back in Stark Tower. Not that that information was of any use to him right now…
He sighed, and tried to will away the images… especially the ones of Captain America, his childhood hero, glaring at him with such disgust as he denounced that Tony could even call himself a superhero. Calling him selfish… but he wasn't… Steve just cared too much, didn't want him hurt. Like how Tony had felt about Pepper…
A part of his mind registered that he'd said, 'had felt'… but the majority of it quashed that thought in the wake of a new memory… his last chance to say Goodbye, how it was cruelly ignored…
'If only Pepper had picked up her mobile…' came a voice inside his mind, the tone languid and calm, like a warm liquid that eased the ache he felt in his heart. This thought was swept aside in a rush of warmth directed at the star-spangled man who was frantically screaming into his commlink, hoping that Tony could hear… would answer… but he couldn't.
Internal transistors, flight control and his comms were busted from the interdimensional travel, not to mention everything else was utterly shot from the beating he'd taken in the city before playing suicidal delivery boy for that rocket. Packed a hell of a wallop, that thing had… and now, as consciousness faded in and out, wind rustling through cracks in his armour… all he could do was contemplate the rash of stupid choices he'd made in his life up until this very moment.
Freefall is the perfect time for contemplation, he grinned to himself before everything finally went black…
The billionaire genius playboy philanthropist not even flinchinga singular muscle when something snatched him from the air, and brought him safely down to Earth… where his angry avenging angel in spangled tights was waiting.
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There came a rather ominous metallic clunk from somewhere near the temporal matrix infuser; which Rory had recently taken to referring to as 'the wonky pizza with eyes' was not as disturbing as it could be, and to be fair –as Amy often pointed out when the Doctor sulked about it- it kind of did look like a pizza with wonky eyes.
"Oh no, that noise is DEFINITELY never good…I think," stated the Doctor, pulling on his beloved tweed jacket in jerky distracted movements, and striding over to the console, eyes and hands roaming all over the entirety of the circular control panel.
He was looking for the source of that dreadful noise, which was fair enough… still, the others –his current companions- couldn't help but feel that the 'distraction' had been far too convenient; given what they had been trying to do… and how much their Doctor had been protesting at the time…
Amy pouted adorably –in the way that usually wrapped the alien around her little finger, and dropped her calamitous armfuls of garishly-coloured, eye burningly bright Space Hawaiian shirts. Onesthat she had personally picked outfor them all to wear from a surprisingly convenient closet hidden in a random room filled with nothing but ladies lingerie –which she really neededto ask the Doctor about in a quiet moment- far, far back in the recesses of the TARDIS…
While Amy pouted at the escape, Rory contrived to looked a little bit lost…given how quickly he had gone from 'fighting a thousand year old time lord out of his tweed jacket' to 'holding open air', but soon snapped out of his surprised stupor.
Seconds earlier, he had been in the process of helping Amy wrangle their Doctor out of his suit… and into something far more casual for their trip to Space California; before or after some 'mischief' if the opportunity, er… 'arose', you could say… was up to fate. Apparently Fate had it in for them…
Because, of course, the Universe's day wasn'tquite complete without trying to kill them at least once…
Naturally assuring that, just at the moment they had all reconciled themselves to the idea of having a fun, relaxing holiday on another planet where nothing tried to kill them, erase them from time or simply eat them… something went utterly wibbly. Or in human terms, 'terribly wrong'.
The time-stream vortex around the TARDIS seemed to be convulsing violently, like a muscle being continuously shocked with short bursts of electricity; these chaotic events appearing to throw off their trajectory somewhat, though neither of the companions were going to say it aloud. There was only so many times you or your ideas could be affectionately called, 'so humany-wumany' before it became a pet name… and rather annoying, to be honest.
Even with all the outside clamour of space and time having a strange form of seizure, it still did not explain exactly what the sudden grating, clunking metallic noises echoing around the TARDIS interior was, nor from whence it was emanating. Which was unusual to say the least… All the self-diagnosis scans appeared to be coming up empty as well, no matter how many times his long, slender fingers typed in the re-run sequence…the answer was always the same. Always nothing wrong.
"Uh, what was that…?" Rory stated, looking about for obvious signs of damage and finding nothing to suggest the time machine wasn't as structurally sound as normal; Amy was under the console, checking the wires for any form of sparks. The wily redhead was grinning, it was all a big adventure to her… even if the others didn't quite see it that way…
Amelia Pond. Ever the little girl waiting in her garden with a bowl of fish fingers and custard; waiting for her Raggedy Doctor to return…
Tall and gangly, the Doctor gave the impression of being clumsy and awkward… and to be fair, that would be a fairly spot-on observation…However those who knew him were always comforted by the fact that there always seemed to be a method to his madness… and a big, cheesy smile on his face no matter what kind of horror they were facing.
For Rory to see a grim frown cross the thousand-or-so year old Time Lord's face was a tad disturbing to see; Amy apparently wasn't taking any of his 'ask the Doctor what's wrong' telepathic messages at the moment… so the former nurse decided he'd just have to grit his teeth and do it.
No sooner had he opened his mouth to speak, did the Doctor's hand come up to hush him. Without turning to face him, the Time Lord said, "I honestly have no idea Rory, this is a new one even for me… and before you ask," he flailed something that looked like a blank piece of paper, "…Psychic Paper, you were thinking really loudly. You can just ask me things now if you want, I mean, there's not much any of us have to hide from each other now we're… well…"
There could have been an end to that statement, given enough time… but,- somewhat ironically, given their current location was IN a Time Machine- they never seemed to have enough… before calamity struck.
'Sssshhhhrrrrrtttt!'
The sound of tearing fabric seemed to echo on throughout the entirety of the Time Machine; it seemed both alien and terrifyingly familiar at the same time… something about it made Amy cold inside. Like a warning to get the hell away from whatever had created that soundas fast as possible; her instincts were usually spot-on when it came to danger detection, just not as good in the 'avoidance' side of things. The universe had it in for the Raggedy Doctor and his companions… no other explanation necessary.
They were all at the console now, fiddling with knobs, switches and buttons, pulling levers… it could hardly make the situation worse, now could it? A grim smile tugged at the Doctor's lips at the thought, no… not a lot worse than being trapped in a writhing time vortex with no means of escape while something in poor Sexy –as he referred to the TARDIS in private- was clanging about. Rory touched something that whizzed that drew his focus as the nurse leapt back like he'd been stung, the Doctor was going to ask if he was alright… when Amy slammed her open palm down on a flashing button and the noise stopped.
Oh, it had been an Alarm. Wonderful… an alarm for what, exactly?
There was no need for an answer. On the internal monitors came a sight that struck a primal, quaking terror in the base of all their spines… Rory backing away, head shaking slightly as whispered memories of a time he didn't exist, came pouring back like a floodtide…
Amy's heartbeat leapt, remembering a time when a similar phenomenon had claimed her entire life, parents and family… till all that was left was a girl with the entire universe in her head…
The Doctor remembered both sets of events in tandem within his mind… the suffering of Amy as her world dissolved, the patient love of Rory as he guarded the Pandorica for over two thousand years to keep Amy safe, his own sacrifice to save the world... and rebirth from the memories of those who loved him dearly. Unexpected salvation, how ingeniously humany-wumany!
Yet…having to watch them struggle, even though the ending was happy… it had broken his hearts. They had won, they'd closed all the fissures between space and time…or so they thought. For there, mockingly placed in the centre of their trajectory, was a Time Crack.
Bold, brazen and filling the time vortex just ahead of them, like an unavoidable embrace from Death… there was no way around it; and the TARDIS could do nothing but hurtle them towards it as was her duty. Pulling on the brakes, hell, even reverse right this second could strand them in this in-between space for eternity…
He couldn't risk that, risk them… better to never be than to be trapped in purgatory forever.
"Doctor, what are you doing…?" Amy asked, her tone questioning, yet sceptical as he stepped back from the console, resigned to the idea they were all going to cease existence at any second now. She was holding Rory, who had hit the floor on his knees shaking like a leaf in a solid breeze, as two thousand years of memory washed over him; battles he'd fought, friends he's watched die, things he remembered clearly but had not technically happened.
The Doctor knelt down, "It's going to be alright Rory, you'll see… just hold on." He whispered.
The humans he brought with him were always so precious to him, so wonderful and brave and clever, but yet… so fragile. The wonders of the universe could break them, an eternity alone -the fate he alone bore now that he was the last of the Time Lords- could tear their minds apart if only they experienced it for a short while. And then there was the great calamity the trio had brought upon the universe, the Big Bang Two… to save everything and everyone; the three had erased their own pasts and rewritten time itself.
It was supposed to have sealed all the cracks in time, permanently creating a fused, fixed timeline without the continuity errors of before… the only reason there could be one before them now would be a rupture in space-time. A rift,or something causing two points in time and space to intersect, where they shouldn't…
His mind was racing almost faster than his hearts, this shouldn't be physically possible unless… oh dear, that couldn't-… no, just an anomaly. Probably fell into another one of the Dream Master's traps…
He stared directly into the monitor and made up his mind, THAT was NOT really out there. Not at all, figment of imagination…
Striding over to the door, the Doctor flung it wide open and watched as the supposed 'time crack' grew larger and larger in his vision… but something seemed off for some reasons that he just couldn't put a finger on. Then it hit him… and he turned an impressive shade of pale… swinging about and slamming the door shut like there was a carnivorous Keltak beast out there…
Imagination usually didn't include the snapping, tingling sensation of time currents, like static electricity crawling up your skin… this was real, this was BAD, but real. Oh dear… he needed a Jammy Dodger like you wouldn't believe!
"Doctor!" shouted Amy, staring at the man she idolised with a look that plainly said 'get it together man, and tell us what the hell is going on!' as she swayed by the console, next to an also-standing Rory. Their bodies shook in a surreal sort of pitching and rolling motion, like they were all on a boat in the middle of a light storm…
The crackling hiss of lightning flared across the monitors, something was on fire… there was smoke… white light reached closer and closer, calling them in…embracing them almost; and the TARDIS was engulfed. The Doctor felt he should yell that he loved them to Amy and Rory, but their faces clearly said they already knew it…
…wait, what was happening? Why were they not existing already? Oh… well, that changes things quite significantly…
There was space outside, pitch black with stars and everything! They weren't dead! Huzzah! He might even wear his fez in celebration… provided he made sure Amy wasn't carrying any fez-destroying firearms on her at the current moment. He turned with a grand gesture, smiling, to say, "We're not dead!" and stopped cold.
Mere inches from the time crack was another hole, this one seemed deliberately made -like a portal being funnelled from a distant place, given that it was oddly perfectly circular in shape and size…
Which, except in the Garrullean galaxies, is not a naturally occurring this was no Garruellean galaxy, he could tell by the lack of naked squid people… wonderful race, bit crazy about worshipping rocks, but if it kept them happy…
Monitors all over the console were flaring some kind of warning. Something large, alien and definitely dangerous was hovering a short distance from their relative position, just bristling with a multitude of warlike creatures who had yet to notice them, thankfully. But that was not the cause of the TARDIS' s distress, the alarms were more concerned about the large metallic something that was headed towards it at great speed… kind of looked like a-
"MISSLE!" he cried, throwing himself under the nearest bit of console, just in time to miss a bright red and gold object streak past the external monitors and start to fall back through the circular portal… or the hand that reached out to make a grab at it from the back of the TARDIS…
Amy and Rory slid in beside him, eyes wide and yet unquestioning about the danger as something external exploded, sending shockwaves rocketing through the time machine;the entire TARDIS shuddered violently and flungit's inhabitants every which way possible as the engine flashed an ominous klaxonsscreamed throughout all of the vast the ship as the autonomous life form protection protocols were activated by Sexy herself, which immediately attempted to take her precious cargo out of the firing line of the remaining shockwaves by opening another time vortex.
Unfortunately, the time crack and the vortex appeared to be leeching off one another, forming into a singular giant anomaly that barely adhered to the laws of science or man… The Doctor shook his head, which then slammed into a metal railing as the ship flipped over, no time for clever nonsense… not when there are Ponds to protect and universes to save… in that order.
It seemed for a moment like the TARDIS itself was breaking apart, but the walls held firm. Like a great, sucking maw, the fusion of portal, time-crack and time vortex swirled and beckoned, then sucked them inside with a greedy, lip-smacking gulp… The TARDIS was in free-fall, computer systems trying to lock on to the nearest inhabitable world, to protect her people… while the gravometric and temporal forces pulled in all directions, spinning them over and over. Ponds and Time Lords bounced off the inner walls of the console room like ping-pongs, occasionally bouncing in different directions, or down corridors… at one point Rory disappeared and all that was heard was a faint 'splash!' before a sopping wet centurion came back into view. Likewise, Amy decided to make a game of it, trying to bring something back each time she took a foray into the depths of the TARDIS…
The others just had to laugh, always trying to make the best of things, she was…
With a slam, the door opened wide –which should have been physically impossible, but apparently not- to reveal a man in a standard issue knee-length army coat and a killer smile; who tumbled into the room like a professional acrobat, door slamming shut behind him, "Didn't you hear me knocking, Doctor? You need a doorbell in this thing…"
"Jack!" the Doctor cried, amazed the man was even here, "What the-… how did you get here?" he yelled over the alarm. To which the grinning man replied, "I just read the door… did you know it says 'Pull' NOT 'Push'? You've been doing it wrong this whole time!" followed by a hearty laugh as the tumbling of the TARDIS yanked him about alongside the other inhabitants…
"How about we discuss this when we're not doing some magnificent feats of aerial acrobatics, shall we, boys?" shouted Amy, just as the TARDIS managed to hit what felt like an atmosphere and really start spinning in earnest, no gentle flopping them about… this was serious. Amy, Rory, the Doctor -and this Jack fellow- were being thrown in all directions, slamming harshly into all manner of different immobile, and none-too-soft,objects. Not to mention all the floating hazards that Amy had collected –to much hilarity- earlier.
The Doctor was the first to fall, knocking heads rather harshly with Jack and taking them both out; bodies still tumbling about the console room like a pair of menacing floating roadblocks that the remaining Ponds strove to avoid crashing into with impressive set of aerial acrobatics. These feats were continued as Amy hurriedly flipped over Rory's head as he came past at great speed; he twisted to avoid slamming into a railing, both noticing how hot the TARDIS had gotten all of a sudden…
It was almost like they were in an oven, or on fi-… The TARDIS was on fire.
If only they could get to the external emergency extinguisher lever, by the door…but suddenly that seemed like an impossible task given there was no means of deliberately aiming for it and besides that, it was getting hard to see. Thick grey smoke was seeping inside and filling the interior, making things hard to see; it seemed that even Amy shouting, "Extractor Fans On!" didn't seem to make much headway in clearing it.
With all the grace of a drunken flying duck, Rory made a leap for the lever, but an unexpected rotation –and subsequent crash into the TARDIS's wall- he was sent spiralling towards the centre of the console…and was slammed against the engines; knocked out cold in an instant.
Which was funny, because if he'd held out for just a moment longer, like Amy managed to by clinging desperately to an extended piece of cabling flailing from the floor… he could have watched them crash land in a field full of flying people. Who all came running to help as the TARDIS finally came to a bone-shattering stop, about ten feetinto the ground, simultaneously slamming the fiery, pale redhead face-first into the unforgivingly hard floor of the time machine.
She almost could have sworn she saw two of the figures hit the ground and start running toward them, on the monitors… drawing sticks of wood and shouting things at the flaming TARDIS…
…and then it all fell away.
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To Be Continued...
Next: Chapter 2 - Of Quidditch and Questionable Landings
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~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~