WELCOME TO COMPANION PAINS II: IT'S COMPLICATED!
Thank you so much for those who have been following Companion Pains since the beginning.
As for you new readers, welcome aboard!
They were thrown about as the TARDIS blasted out into space. The companions smashed into each other, and into the corals, but the combined teamwork of 9 and 11 got the TARDIS stabilized and landed it quickly and smoothly. When the TARDIS stopped groaning, the passengers, which consisted of Martha, Mickey, Rose, and the Doctors themselves, weren't all that banged up, which was a relief to them. They all got up and dusted themselves off, and quickly went over to the scanner.
"Doctor, what was that?" Rose asked. "Why did the TARDIS go bonkers?"
"I dunno," 9 replied, pressing some buttons.
"Are the others landed nearby?" Mickey asked.
11 glanced up. "That, I do know," he replied. "They're not. And we're not on earth anymore."
Martha's eyes narrowed. "Then where are we?"
"I don't know," 9 said. "The scanners are being kind of faulty."
"We can't get a name," the other Doctor said. "But we have picture."
They crowded around the scanner, which showed the land that lay beyond the TARDIS doors. Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "Am I crazy for thinking it looks like the moon? With trees?"
It did. The scanner showed a rocky landscape stretching out as far as the eye could see. There were no buildings in the direction they were looking, but from narrow, but deep looking cracks in the ground sprouted tall trees with billowing pink and yellow leaves. The trunks seemed to get thicker as they grew higher, which looked really weird. A few other plants popped out of the ground, but not enough of them were there to make the land not look like the moon.
"Those are some weird trees," Mickey said.
"They look like they come right out of those Dr. Seuss books," Martha agreed. She turned to the Doctors. "Do you think we can breathe out there?"
"I think we should be able to," 11 said. "The trees may look strange, but they are trees. They should produce the same oxygen we breathe."
"Then let's go out there," Rose said. "Maybe someone lives here and have seen the others."
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
"Let's go."
They were hesitant about going outside for a few moments, but eventually, Martha pushed the door open. She took a deep breath, relieved to find that she could breathe normally. Now filled with refreshed optimism, she took a step forward, her feet stepping onto the hard rock. A small cloud of dust billowed around her feet, and the cloud got even larger as she turned on her heels.
"I think it's safe," Martha decided. She beckoned to them to come forward, and they all stepped outside.
"We can breathe here," Mickey said.
9 raised his eyebrows. "Give the boy a biscuit for pointing out the obvious."
"Hey!"
"It's what you're best at," 9 countered.
11 stepped forward. "That isn't a nice thing to say though."
"I decide what's nice for me to say, floppy fringe."
11 glanced at the companions. "Was I this rude when I was him?"
"Oi!"
"What? You're being rude!"
The two went back and forth. Mickey, Martha, and Rose stood in awkward silence. After a few minutes of listening to the two Doctors arguing, Martha leaned over and said, "They do realize they're arguing with themselves, right?"
"I don't think they do," Rose replied.
"I wanna see how long it takes for them to notice," Mickey put in. A small fit of chuckles broke out among them, but went unnoticed by the Doctors as they continued their argument.
Rose opened her mouth to say something else, but nobody ever found out what that was, because at that moment, the ground opened up behind her. A hand reached out and grabbed her ankle. She cried out in surprise, then screamed as she fell to the rocky ground, and the hand started trying to pull her in.
River noticed seconds before the TARDIS pitched to the side that something had gone wrong. Her hand was reaching to the blue stabilizers right before she went flying.
Maria cried out in surprise as she was thrown into the console. She grabbed onto the seat and held on tightly.
River was thrown over the railing to the floor below, where she tumbled under the grated floor.
"River!" Maria shouted. "Are you alright? River?"
River held onto the underside of the console floor, her fingers curled through the grates. "Hit the stabilizers!" she called up, panic beginning to show in her voice.
"Stabilizers?" Maria repeated. She cried out in surprise, holding on tightly to the chair as the TARDIS attempted to throw her to the side.
"The blue switches next to the helmic regulator!"
"What's the helmic regulator?"
River's reply was cut off as she lost hold of the grates, and she fell into the back of the staircase. Maria almost lost her grip again; she almost was thrown directly up into the air. The TARDIS must have been spiraling violently through the air to be throwing them around like this.
Maria finally lost her hold, but luckily, she just fell to the floor in front of the console. Her hands leapt up to the console to keep her from getting pitched to the side again. Maria pulled herself up to become level with the controls to the TARDIS. She scanned them, trying to find anything blue. She saw a blue button and pressed it, momentarily forgetting about River telling her they were actually switches.
The TARDIS apparently did not like what Maria had done. The time machine groaned, and shuddered even more.
"Maria, what did you do?" River shouted from underneath the console.
"I pressed a button!"
"Maria, I said 'switches'!"
Maria was about to respond when she saw them. Without hesitating, she reached up and pulled them.
The TARDIS landed so quickly that Maria fell to the floor. A thunk from beneath her told her River had just done the same. Maria lay face down, panting on the floor for a moment. She heard footsteps and rolled over in time to see River standing over her. Her poofy hair stuck out at weird angles, and she was pulling a strand of blonde out of her mouth.
"Good work," River told her. Maria wasn't sure if she was serious or not.
"Have we landed?" Maria asked. River nodded. Maria furrowed her eyebrows. "How could we have landed?"
"Sorry?" River asked, glancing down at her from the scanner. She offered her a hand and pulled Maria to her feet.
"I said, how could we have landed?" Maria repeated. "It didn't make that weird noise."
"It isn't supposed to make that noise."
"It made that noise when the Doctor was flying it," she told her.
"He leaves the brakes on."
Maria began laughing at that, and River cracked a smile. Maria stood next to her and looked at the scanner, which showed a clear picture of outer space.
"I thought we were supposed to land on the surface," Maria said.
"We were," River replied. "But something stopped us. We got thrown into space."
"But where are the others?"
River shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't know what to do now. I can't call the TARDIS; we're already in one."
"I know where to go," Maria said. River looked down at her in surprise.
"Where's that then?"
"Go to Bannerman Road, Ealing, London, on the 8th of June, 2014."
River, 11, and 9 may have been able to land their TARDISes smoothly (well, as smoothly as they could), but 10 wasn't so lucky.
The TARDIS threw the passengers to the side, causing them to bounce off the walls. Amy cried out in both surprise and pain as her body slammed into the coral. Rory cried out her name, but was muffled, as his face was pressed against the wall.
Donna collided with the seats, flipping over the railing as a result. She cried out again as 10 ended up falling on top of her.
Sarah Jane was thrown against the TARDIS doors, which shuddered dangerously under her weight. For one scary moment, she was worried she may fall out, but she managed to grab hold of the railing nearby. She pulled herself off the door as the TARDIS rolled over again.
The bigger-on-the-inside spaceship was filled with terrified screams as the TARDIS rolled them around and around.
"DOCTOR!" Donna screamed. "GET CONTROL OF THIS BLOODY THING!"
"I'm trying!" he yelled as he narrowly missed hitting a coral. "I can't get over to the damn console!"
Sarah Jane nearly collided with the time rotor, and let out a shout of surprise as she bumped into Rory. From the way they were flying through the air, it could have been zero gravity in the room.
"Doctor, do something!" Amy shouted. She grabbed hold of the coral and wrapped her legs around it, attempting to keep herself in one place.
"I'm trying!"
Sarah Jane fell to the ground again and cried out. She was getting bruises everywhere. "Do something, or so help me-"
10 was thrown at the console at last, and managed to grab the scanner. It swung all the way around the console, and 10 almost lost his hold. But he managed to press some switches. It didn't help at all, though. The TARDIS continued to toss them around.
"Use the stabilizers!" Amy screamed, clutching the coral.
"It doesn't have stabilizers!" 10 snapped.
"It's the blue switches!" Rory shouted, flying past him. He let out a groan as he collided with the wall again.
"Those aren't stabilizers," 10 cried as the TARDIS flung them aside. He almost lost his grip on the console, but he managed to hang on.
"They're the blue stabilizers!" Amy yelled. She shouted out as Sarah Jane slammed into her hands and feet, causing her to lose her grip and go flying.
"Sorry!" Sarah Jane called before smashing into another coral. She bashed her head rather hard and groaned, trying to get a grip on something.
"Doctor!" Donna shouted. "This bloody box is shaking us around like a maraca! Do something!"
"Use the damn stabilizers!" Rory yelled at him.
"They're not stabilizers!" 10 yelled again, pulling random switches. It was at that moment that Amy smashed into him and 10 went flying. Amy, however, managed to grab hold of the scanner and reached for the stabilizers. She got them twisted before the TARDIS flung her away again.
But, at last, the TARDIS shuddered and its wheezing came to an abrupt stop. The TARDIS landed, and suddenly, the five of them dropped to the ground.
Rory fell onto the grated floor with a groan. Sarah Jane landed next to some coral, aching all over. 10 fell into one of the comfy seats, but Amy wasn't as lucky. She landed upside down, her legs hooked over the railing next to the door. With a strange flipping motion, she landed face down on the ground below. She grumbled as she slowly rolled over onto her back.
"I hate this ship right now," she hissed.
Donna landed on the ground at 10's feet. After a moment, she sat up and glared at him. He gave an awkward smile, chewing on his lip at the same time. He knew he was in trouble.
"I thought you said you could drive this thing," Donna said.
"I can," the Doctor defended.
"Not well," Donna countered, getting to her feet with a grunt.
"There was a test he was supposed to pass to drive it," Amy murmured as she got to her feet. "He failed it."
Donna glared at 10. "I know what I am going to do," Donna said as she walked over to help Sarah Jane up.
"What's that?" asked 10 nervously. Nearby, Rory stood up and started to make his way over to Amy.
Donna glanced over at 10 as Sarah Jane put a hand to her head. "I'm gonna kill you before you kill me."
Amy chuckled, and Rory grinned as 10's face turned red. Sarah Jane rubbed her head with a small groan.
"Are you okay?" Donna asked her. Sarah Jane nodded.
"I banged my head, that's all," she said. "But we all got knocked around. I'll be fine."
Donna nodded and let her go. Sarah Jane steadied herself, and after that, seemed fine.
"Doctor, did we land on the surface?" Amy asked him. "Or did your terrible driving end up sending us somewhere else?"
10 ignored her comment about his driving and hurried over to the scanner. He pressed a couple buttons and groaned slightly. Sarah Jane, Amy, Rory, and Donna hurried over, and saw the screen cutting in an out, unable to give them a clear picture.
"Doctor, where are we?" said Sarah Jane.
The Doctor clicked his tongue. "Wherever we are, it isn't earth."
To my friends, DoctorWhovian18, Binkabonkahankeydo, and GriffinGirl8655 who has always been encouraging my writing.