The idea for this story came to me while watching the first episode of New who just after watching The End of Time. Do not question how my brain works and enjoy the story XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. I wish I did, but I do not.
NORTH
The sound of the universe was muffled by the noise of the crowd as a 1960 s police telephone call box materialized in a side alley of the biggest carnival in the 57th century. As the door of the box opened three figures emerged
"You can't not want to come to the carnival. Everyone loves the carnival. Honestly Mickey how can you not love carnivals?"
"I just don't like 'em alright Doctor?"
"Oh come on Mickey," said the girl "It'll be fun"
"Everything always goes wrong at carnivals. Mark my words before this is over we'll be running for our lives. Again." Rose had to admit that Mickey had a point, but the Doctor just looked so excited and she really wanted to look around as well.
"There's nothing to worry about" insisted the Doctor, "There was only one universe destroying plot at this carnival and I'm already taking, have already taken... it's being delt with. Now, let s just go and enjoy the carnival"
"'Ang on a minute!" exclaimed Rose, "You're saying you've been here before?"
"Yep" he said popping the p "I come at least once a regeneration so if you run into me be sure not to mention anything about anything, especially not to the man in charge or the technicoloured wonder because they'll hound on me til we decide to leave. If you run into a bloke in a question mark jumper be sure to get far far away from him and if you meet the fellow with the teeth and the scarf be sure to grab one of the jelly babies he offers and bring it back to the Tardis for analysis because I've been trying to work out where and when I used to get them and I simply cannot remember. Oh, if you run into cricket man-"
As the doctor rambled out instructions Rose and Mickey simply stared in awe, not because of the babbling, they were used to that, but because of the sheer number of times the doctor seemed to have visited this one carnival and the fact that he was risking a huge paradox by attending the same carnival over and over again.
"Now if you see the dandy and the hobo they'll probably be arguing as they don't really like each other and technicolour and the umbrella fellow also argue a lot only their fights actually get quite violent so instead of bursting your eardrums with their shouting they'll be trying to kill each other instead. I don't actually recall meeting myself too often when I was them though so there shouldn't be much to worry about there. Ears and leather came and hung out with the Brig for a bit but I'm fairly sure I've landed us after they left so no worries on that front but the velvet fellow with the girly hair-"
"Doctor how likely is it that we'll run into you?"
"Well... Since the carnival went for a good three decades I'd say the odds are relatively small except in the case of future selves in which case I can't really state the odds now... onto the carnival!!!"
And so the three continued down the slight slope of the hill, heading deep into the carnival, two members of the party with their faces bright and happy in anticipation of fun and the third with his face set into a deep scowl, just knowing that something was going to go wrong.
SOUTH
Across the carnival grounds an almost identical blue box materialized by what was presumably a cotton candy stand but may also have been a wack-a-mole, it really was quite hard to tell at times. Around a minute after the strange object appeared a short, dumpy man wearing a question mark jumper, a brown coat and a white panama hat stepped out. Following almost immediately after him was a considerably taller girl, if asked she would tell you that she was 18 years old and you would be left to wonder why her father, for he could be nothing else, looked quite so amused.
The dark pink question mark hook of a black umbrella caught on the girl's wrist and she looked back to the man who wielded it, their eyes locking in a silent battle of wills.
He scowled.
She pouted.
He scowled harder.
She raised her eyebrows in a 'Really?' expression.
He scowled even harder.
Her eyes pleaded.
His scowl lessened.
She pouted again.
Finally the man sighed and shook his head before pulling the blue box's door closed and heading up the slope towards the bulk of the carnival. The girl grinned and hitched the heavy pack further up onto her shoulder before practically skipping after him.
EAST
An old blue box proudly displaying the St Andrews cross wheezed into view, almost seeming to fade again before finally stabilizing and becoming solid. Several minutes passed before the occupants spilled out of the box, still arguing about their destination.
"Doctor, you promised you'd get us back to Earth"
"And I will. I will my boy but first, first I do believe that we deserve a bit of a vacation hmm?" The man known as the Doctor, a white haired old man with a stooped posture, gripped his lapel and faced the much younger man "Come Chesterfield, surely you wouldn't deprive an old man and his granddaughter the chance to rest and have just a little, a little fun after all that running we did on our last adventure hmm?"
Chesterfield's expression made it clear that, yes he would deprive an old man and his granddaughter the rest and fun of the carnival, especially after the last adventure and for the fact that the doctor had gotten his name wrong again. Unfortunately, of fortunately depending on how you looked at it, before he could say anything his female companion trod soundly on his foot, elbowed him sharply in the ribs and took his arm to hide the aforementioned rib poking all in one movement.
"We'd love to go to the carnival Doctor, it's just you know how much we miss home and we get so homesick"
"Quite alright, quite alright my dear Barbara"
"So shall we explore the carnival then? How about it Ian?"
"Alright" sighed Ian deflating quite quickly at the sight of Barbra's challenging gaze and Susan's puppy eyes, "I suppose we could spend some time at the carnival. It has been quite a while since we had any real fun on these adventures that wasn't immediately followed by running for our lives."
"Excellent, excellent. Come Susan, let's see if they've got any of that Earth candy, the kind that is unbelievably bad for you and melts in your mouth"
"You mean cotton candy Grandfather?" asked Susan gently, ever mindful of her overprotective and forgetful grandfather.
"Yes, yes, that's the one."
Linking his arm with Susan's they began to walk away, leaving the two teachers from 1960's Earth to argue quietly as they followed.
"Honestly Ian what were you thinking?" whispered Barbra furiously
"I only want us to get home and every time we stop somewhere the Doctor insists on checking everything out. At this rate we may never get back to Earth" Ahead of them the Doctor and Susan paused to purchase some cotton candy with Susan counting out and handing over the money even as the Doctor protested.
"Come on Ian, have a little faith. I'm sure he'll get us home eventually"
"Before or after we die of old age? We've been appearing randomly through all of time and space Barbara, the odds against us ever landing anywhere near home are astronomical and they get even greater every time the Doctor decides to make one of his pit stops." Barbara gave him a stern look and the thoroughly whipped man conceded the point "I suppose he can only do the best he can do, he has found a few ways to improve the Tardis' aiming when we go wandering and I suppose the pit stops we make occasionally turn up things that can be used to improve the Tardis' steering"
"That's the spirit Ian"
Unfortunately Ian's new good mood was to very quickly be spoilt as the doctor called out from in front of them, "Come along Barbara, Cheeserton, we have a lot more of this Carnival to explore"
The couple quickly caught up with the Doctor and Susan, Barbara shaking her head and laughing quietly to herself, Cheeserton silently plotting to Doctor's death, Susan too caught up in the sights and sounds surrounding them to notice anything odd going on with her two teachers and the Doctor chuckling softly, amazed yet totally unsurprised that it was still so easy to wind Ian up.
WEST
An object resembling a large blue bin rumbled into view within the carnival's dump yard. Not half a second after it had solidified a strangely dressed man, all teeth and scarf, bounded out of a panel in the side, proudly admiring his handiwork.
"You see Romana; I told you I could fix the chameleon circuit. I just hadn't had the time The fact that all the other bins in the yard were painted with bright yellows did nothing to combat his good mood as several strange alien birds crashed into buildings after being blinded by his teeth.
His companion, a blond woman wearing a pink coat and a normal sized white scarf stood next to him, frowning hard in order to hide her amusement. "I didn't say that you couldn't do it Doctor"
"You implied it, and look there, before your very eyes. Proof that I, the Doctor, am a genius among geniuses and am most certainly not in need of a babysitter as you so happily like to say"
Romana was sure that had she not been looking right at him he would have been preening like a peacock. Deciding that it was best to humour him she sighed and agreed that yes, he was smart and, of course he didn't need a babysitter it was just that he knew so much that she wanted to learn from him and the babysitter excuse was the one most likely to convince the council to let her stay.
Needless to say the resulting grin blinded every bird in a three mile radius and caused several aircraft to radio in about an unknown beacon being used to blind them midflight in an attempt to make them crash.
"Well, now that we've finished basking in my brilliance what do you say we go enjoy the carnival? I've been meaning to restock my jelly baby supply as I'm down to my last few bags" His words faded as he wandered away, down the alley, across the slope, and towards the main bulk of the carnival.
Romana could only choke back laughter as the image of the blue bin gave way to that of an old 1960's police box, before turning her heels and running after the Doctor. She'd slip back and fix it later, even make it blend in properly for a change; after all, he had worked so hard on the damn circuit and the pout he would give upon discovering it had broken again might just end the universe.
I hope you enjoyed part 1 of At the Carnival - Arrival. I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish the next part as I started Uni this week and already have a lot on my plate. Any and all feedback is welcome as it will help me to improve my writing style. XD Part 2 will feature the Ninth, Eighth, Sixth and Fifth Doctors while Part 3 will feature the Second and Third.