The Fight for Time and Space
By Robin Carlisle, aka Lady Dragonryder
NOTE: I am writing this because I have always wanted to write a huge crossover. The fandoms I am positive I will use are Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, Kingdom Hearts, and Phantom of the Opera, though I am quite sure more will appear as the deadline approaches and my brain fries. I hope you have as much fun reading as I have creating this vision.
FFTAS-FFTAS
"Next stop, Nothguah," the Doctor said to his ship, the TARDIS. The Doctor was a Time Lord, a race that had been all but destroyed in the Time War with the Daleks. The Daleks were living beings encased in robotic outer shells. They were bred for destruction, and all emotion had been removed from them, making them cold, calculating killing machines. The Doctor had ended the Time War, destroying both the Daleks and Gallifrey, the home of the Time Lords—and most of his race along with it. Since that time (and time is an extremely relative term, as the reader shall see in due course), the Doctor had taken it upon himself to become the defender of the weak and unprotected in the universe. Now, he was following a tip that led him to the backwater planet of Nothguah, where he had heard rumors of a slave trade. Since slavery had been outlawed years back by the Celestial Intelligence Agency, or CIA, the Doctor was going to see what was happening, and intervene if the situation called for it. Suddenly, the TARDIS began rumbling, indicating she was landing.
"There's a girl," the Doctor said, pulling some levers and holding on for the rough landing he knew was coming. The TARDIS did not disappoint, practically throwing the Doctor across the console room. After recovering from the shaky landing, the Doctor stood up, brushed himself off, and left the TARDIS. The outside of the ship was supposed to blend in to whatever surroundings it was in. However, due to an unfortunate glitch in the Chameleon Circuitry, it was stuck in the shape of a 1950's British Police Public Call box. Needless to say, it was much larger on the inside than the outside, due to the fact that the inside was in a different dimension than the outside. This, of course, was common knowledge to the Doctor, and he merely locked the door and walked onward, looking around the planet before him. He noticed nothing out of the ordinary—that is, until a young woman collided with him, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
"Oof! Well, hello there!" The Doctor said amicably, standing up and offering the woman a hand. The lady looked up, fear evident on her face.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry, please don't report me to Eranorm, please!" she muttered, hoisting herself to her feet and backing away quickly, never making eye contact. Quick as a flash, the Doctor gently seized her beneath her chin and forced the trembling girl to meet his eyes. One look at her face confirmed his suspicions. The young woman had a black eye, a busted lip, and dirt firmly embedded in her pale face. Her uniquely violet eyes were bloodshot—from fear or lack of sleep, the Doctor didn't know, though he assumed it was a combination of the two—and her long, black hair was matted from dirt and grime.
"What happened to you?" The Doctor asked softly, voice full of concern. The girl pulled away and looked down.
"I was beaten," she mumbled, barely loud enough for even The Doctor's Time Lord hearing to register. "By Eranorm." The Doctor's eyes darkened as he imagined what he would like to do to this "Eranorm." Seeing the girl's fear, however, he forced himself to calm down.
"Who is this Eranorm? Why did he beat you?" The Doctor asked, all the while keeping a gentle but firm hold on the lady's arm, as the poor girl looked ready to run at any moment.
"Well, technically, I'm his servant—slavery is outlawed, after all—but he treats me as a slave all the same. A pittance of a salary, and I get beaten when I do my work incorrectly." The girl sighed, and then froze in fear. From behind the Doctor, a voice screamed in anger and hatred.
"GIRL! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, TALKING WITH STRAGNERS WITHOUT PERMISSION? GET BACK TO WORK!" By this time the speaker had reached them. He was a portly, balding man with a face the shade of grape juice—though that was more than likely due to his shouting, as citizens of Nothguah were generally human in appearance. He reached over, ignoring the Doctor, and proceeded to slap the girl silly. Nearly bursting with rage at the treatment of this poor young woman, the Doctor stepped between the two.
"Excuse me, sir, but this is my sla—er, servant, you are protecting. Now I'll never get her to do right," the man said, visibly restraining himself from doing bodily harm to the Doctor. The Doctor looked as if he was restraining from doing the same to the man. Pulling out a pad of paper, he flashed it at the man.
"Intergalactic security. You're under arrest for mistreatment and under pay of hired help. I'm taking you into the proper authorities," the Doctor said in a voice that was cold enough to freeze hot coffee. The man paled, but put up no resistance as the Doctor led him away, leaving the girl behind him.
FFTAS-FFTAS
When the Doctor returned to the TARDIS about an hour later, he found the girl exactly where he had left her, apparently waiting for him. As he approached, she stood cautiously, confirming his suspicion.
"Why did you do that for me?" She asked. "You aren't really from the police, are you? I caught a glimpse of that paper—it was completely blank!"
The Doctor smiled slightly. "You're right; I'm not from the police. That pad was of Slightly Psychic Paper. It shows the viewer what they expect to see. I told him I was from the police; therefore, he expected to see a police badge. He's in custody now, so you don't have to worry." Suddenly the Doctor looked abashed. "I'm afraid I don't even know your name, ma'am. I'm known as the Doctor." The girl gave a weak smile.
"I'm Cassandraia Dragonryder, sir—Cassi for short," she replied. "That's an odd turn of phrase--'Known as the Doctor'. Not, 'my name is The Doctor', but known as…" The Doctor smiled.
"You're a perceptive young lady. Why don't you come inside?" he asked, unlocking the door to the TARDIS. Cassi raised an eyebrow.
"That little thing?" she asked. "Unless it's bigger on the inside, there's no way we'll both fit in there." The Doctor grinned.
"See for yourself," he said, opening the door. Cassi peered inside cautiously and gasped.
"It's amazing! What is it?" She asked. Before the Doctor could reply, she heard a voice in her head—an unearthly female voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
"I am the TARDIS. I exist in a plane completely separate from your own. I welcome you back, Lady Dragonryder."
Cassi looked around. "Where did that come from? And why did she call me 'Lady'? And why is she welcoming me back? I've never met her!" The Doctor frowned.
"That was the TARDIS talking—though no one's ever heard her before but me. As for the rest—" The Doctor was cut off by a flood of knowledge and images that rushed both the Time Lord and the young woman.
"Long ago," the TARDIS began, "The First King of Gallifrey foresaw the end of his race, save one—known as the Doctor. Knowing his people would die out, he did the unthinkable—he sent his only daughter away, far into the future, to another world, in the hope of keeping her safe and preserving his race. No one knew where or when she was sent, though all TARDIS units were programmed with her DNA structure, so that they would recognize her if and when she appeared. You are the last Time Princess, Cassandraia Dragonryder. I give you the knowledge that is your birthright." With that, Cassi felt all the knowledge of the Time Lords—knowledge of the past, present, and future of the entire universe—pass into her mind. With a gasp, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. Catching her before she hit the floor, the Doctor picked Cassi up and carried her through the winding halls of the TARDIS, into the medical bay. Running a preliminary scan on her, he realized that she was, indeed, a Time Lord—or to be more exact, a Time Princess. He was in the presence of the Lost Princess of Gallifrey. Suddenly, Cassi's violet eyes shot open and met the Doctor's chocolate-brown ones.
"The Time War…the Daleks…you…oh, Theta!" Tears running down her face, Cassi wrapped her arms around the Doctor and sobbed. Not bothering to ask how in the world Cassi knew his true name—or at least, the shortened version of it—Theta simply held her and allowed her to cry. When at last she had calmed down, she gently pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Theta, it's just—you've been through so much! By yourself! But you aren't alone now. I saw you, fearing to get close to anyone since Time Lords live longer than any other living being. But I'm here now, and I will never leave you!" she said all this in one breath, and finished by staring the Doctor in the eyes, as though she was daring him to argue. Theta did not argue, instead choosing to pull his new friend and fellow Time Lord into a hug.
"It's not easy, you know—traveling with me, that is," he told her. At her glare, he quickly added, "But if you want to come with me, I would be completely and utterly delighted." Robin smiled, then frowned in confusion.
"I told you I saw that—which is true. I did. And I know it was you. But you looked different. Why is that?" she asked softly.
Theta smiled. "Time Lords are a bit like cats, only instead of nine lives, we have thirteen. When we die—and we don't die unless we have a fatal injury, never of old age—we regenerate into new bodies. That was my eighth regeneration, I'm now in my tenth. Now," he added, almost as an afterthought, "Let's get those nasty cuts and bruises cleaned up." Robin nodded and lay down on the table. Theta ran the sonic screwdriver—his little gadget that could do pretty much anything—over her body and as he did so, the discoloring and cuts faded, leaving behind no scars, only perfect skin. Helping Cassi off the table, Theta smiled.
"Now, would you like a tour of the TARDIS?" He asked her, holding his arm out with his elbow slightly bent. She smiled.
"That'd be lovely," she replied, taking is arm as a lady would take her escort's at a fancy dinner party or ball. Smiling, he led her around. He showed her the bedrooms, allowing her to choose one for her own use. He showed her the wardrobe, promising to take her shopping if she didn't find anything satisfactory there. He showed her the swimming pool, the computer lab, the workshop, the lounge, the library (he had to drag her away from this, as Cassi was an avid reader and, once shown the library, did not want to leave), the movie room (Theta had every movie ever made on any planet, much to Cassi's amusement), the kitchen, and everything in between. Finally, he ended their tour in the control room.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked her. She smiled. Before she could reply, however, there was an alarm sound.
"What's that?" Cassi asked both aloud to Theta and psychically, to the TARDIS. The ship answered first.
"An emergency distress call. It must be urgent, Theta—it is from one of your future regenerations."