Doctor Who
To Paradox or Not To Paradox
AN: Dunno if I'm gonna elaborate on this or not. But it works just as well as a one-shot. If I suddenly feel the desire to do so, I may start throwing more chapters to this. Enjoy~
Alone. He always ended up alone. Well, maybe not completely alone. He still had the TARDIS. The Doctor was tired of the heartbreak. He didn't blame them. Not one bit. As he stood there reflecting on his past companions, the TARDIS shook and rumbled. He flipped a few switches, pulled some knobs, turned some dials, and the TARDIS lurched to a stop, but it didn't seem to go as planned. Another rumbling sound took over where there should have been that groaning stop. The TARDIS lurched again and seemed to hit something. It was very rare for the Doctor to actually hit the ground when he landed her, but when he felt the impact, he found himself flat on his back with a few systems showering sparks around him. A small fire had formed, but was easily extinguished. He put on his glasses and slipped over to the monitor, adjusting them on the bridge of his nose as he tried to make sense of the information. He seemed to have landed exactly where he'd planned. The TARDIS needed to refuel, so he'd situated her on the Rift.
The Doctor folded his square 'Brainy Specs' up and slipped them into his coat pocket before scurrying around the central controls and pushed the door open, looking out. "Yep. Just a rough landing, old girl." He patted the door affectionately and stepped outside. Carefully pulling the door shut before he did anything else, he took a deep breath of twenty-first century Earth air.
As he was debating what to do while he waited for her to refuel, he heard a loud scream and saw a woman running down an alleyway. He kicked into gear and followed her, too far away to be of much help at the moment. Rounding a corner, he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks. The Time Lord quickly backpedaled to hide behind that corner and peer around. He saw the woman run up to a blue police box and hammer her fists on the door. Oh, this was not good. He should leave. Now. But… curiosity got the better of him.
"DOCTOR! DOCTOR, HELP! HELP ME, DOCTOR!" The woman shrieked as she pounded on the door, then turned around, pressing her back to it. She was staring at something in sheer terror, but it was out of the Doctor's line of sight. "No… No! NO!" She screamed, hands scrambling against the door behind her, slamming her palms against it, trying to get someone's attention. "DOCTORRRR!"
"EXTERMINATE!"
The Doctor's blood ran cold. He couldn't just leave her there at the mercy of a Dalek! He couldn't and he wouldn't, even if he wasn't supposed to meet himself in an alternate timeline. Paradoxes be damned! But just as he'd made up his mind to run after her, a man appeared, dressed in a rather flashy jacket, bright red tie, and… a kilt? Shin-high white socks with ribbons—yep, he was wearing a kilt.
"Stop right there, Dalek scum!" The man shouted, pulling out a small metal rod, no bigger than four inches in length. With a flick of his wrist, it extended into two extra segments, each about two inches long, making the device a good eight inches. A small light with a purple dome topped the device that tapered slightly at the end. He aimed it at the unseen Dalek and pressed the button. The purple light burned to life with a shrill shrieking sound that the Doctor didn't recognize.
The Doctor heard a crash and a mechanical yell before the man turned around, stabbing the elongated device against his hip to compact it back to pocket-size, then slipped it into his coat pocket. He carefully took the woman by both shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Pristine, it's alright now. You're safe." Then he kissed her.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. He wasn't too fond of this dramatic, snogging version of himself, but he honestly couldn't choose his incarnations. He leaned against the wall, debating if he should just turn around and go, or if he should let curiosity continue to get the better of him. He wasn't given much choice when he heard a crash, leaning around the corner again.
The new Doctor turned around and put himself in front of the woman, arms out. "You're still alive?"
"YES, DOCTOR. WE ALWAYS COME BACK." The Dalek voice spoke, sending shivers down the Doctor's spine followed by unpleasant memories. His eyes closed tightly. He couldn't let this Dalek win. Not because it would mean his death, but because it would mean the extermination of the planet he loved so much. As well as the universe.
The Doctor watched his incarnation press a key into the woman's hand. "This is a key to my TARDIS. Tiny Alien Ride Designed In Space. Get inside. You'll be safe!"
"What about you?" The woman sobbed, clinging to his jacket sleeve.
"I have lived so long… if this is how I must die, then so be it!"
This wasn't how things were supposed to happen! Daleks weren't supposed to dominate this timeline! So maybe, this was how things were supposed to happen. He was supposed to stop it. Right here. Right now.
"Dalek! Remember me?" The Doctor jumped around the corner, his own Sonic Screwdriver in hand. "Oh, I bet you do—"
"—Who the hell are you?" The new Doctor shouted.
"I'm—wait, what do you mean, Tiny Alien Ride Designed In Space?" The Doctor dropped his arm, holding the Sonic Screwdriver at his side as he stared at the pair in front of the TARDIS. Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong…
"CUT! Security!" Yelled a disembodied voice from off to the side, somewhere behind the Dalek.
The Doctor turned around quickly to see an entire filming cast with cameras, lights, microphones mounted on booms and a very crude looking Dalek. It almost appeared to be made out of a bin, a plunger, and a whisk. He slipped his Sonic Screwdriver back in his pocket and scratched the back of his head, rocking back on his heels.
"Not… a real Dalek, then?"
"No." The 'new' Doctor answered.
"Right! Well… I'll just…" he pointed towards the corner that led him here in the first place.
The 'new' Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and stepped forward. The woman scurried out from behind him. "How do you mean, a 'real Dalek'?" She asked, wide blue eyes intently focused on him.
"Aowh, nothing. I was just… nothing. Mad man. You see?" He rocked a bit on his heels again then turned and ran.
TBC? Possibly.