Synopsis: The Doctor has had many Christmas adventures, often in London, and many of them terrifying. What about a light adventure during Carnival in Rio? So, on a sunny Carnival Tuesday, in Copacabana...
A/N: This story is set in my Reality Clashes continuity, and it is (mostly) compatible with canon, as much as there's one in Doctor Who. This is the Doctor between the 4th and 5th seasons of the series, somewhen around the 2009 specials. I've tried to avoid spoilers for other stories in the same continuity so some things may go unexplained here.
Disclaimer: Of course, the Doctor is not mine. As much as a Time Lord may belong to someone, he's BBC's. I've only taken him out for a ride. He and his TARDIS, of course. Now Philip, and the other protagonists in this little story, are my own.
Chapter 1 - Encounter
A/N: This is a light adventure which I've written as a gift for another one of the Doctor's fans. Philip is the Doctor's companion in this story, and his story will be told elsewhere. Anyway, this is not his story...
Paula woke up suddenly, faint images from a dream floating just beyond her grasp. But she had the odd feeling she had to hurry. For what? She checked her mobile. It was still far too early. After all, it was Tuesday, during the Carnival holiday. Her mother was traveling, but she and her father had stayed in Rio.
She went to the window and watched the people in the street. Two of them passed just below her window, laughing and talking happily. She noticed that one of them had a colourful scarf wrapped around the neck. Yes, that was it! The block of the Doctor would meet that day. She had followed the discussion on Facebook: the fans of the Doctor were going to meet near the Fort of Copacabana and parade down the promenade, showing off their love for their favourite science fiction series, Doctor Who. She called her father: he didn't enjoy rising early, but they couldn't miss it.
Father and daughter walked down the seafront, towards the western end of Copacabana beach. It was still early, but the block would soon leave the Fort and begin its procession down the Atlantica Avenue. The regular Carnival blocks would normally start appearing just after lunch, so the organizers had scheduled the parade so they'd have the avenue for themselves until they arrived in Leme, on the other end of the beach. Mario hoped to meet the organizers before the block left, so they were walking quickly. In the sand, a few families enjoyed the morning sun. Cars were forbidden in the avenue during holidays, so the wide avenue was filled with people strolling and enjoying life. Some were cosplaying like them, either hurrying towards the meeting point or just waiting for the block to reach them later. Paula called his father's attention to a very good Cyberman costume, homemade out of aluminium paper and cardboard. Mario yawned, he'd usually stay in bed until later and he was sleepy. However this was a unique opportunity and he was nearly as enthusiastic as his daughter.
"I wonder, how can these people stand the heat, nearly forty degrees, with those heavy, hot costumes?"
"The fez suits you, Dad! And the bow tie."
"You didn't want to use it! Someone had to dress up appropriately, after all. Look those two sitting there. The one in overcoat really looks like the Tenth Doctor. He must be melting under all those clothes."
Indeed, sitting in the chairs of one of the seafront stalls, there were two guys, one wearing a brown overcoat over a brown pinstripe suit and beige converse shoes. He had his hair gelled, sticking up, in the same style used by the Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant in the TV series. The other was wearing clothes more suited to the summer in Rio: dark green shorts, red sleeveless shirt with some strange picture on the front, likely of some rock band. He was tanned enough to pass as a resident, but the Doctor cosplayer was tall, thin and all too white. He even looked like the actor.
"Oh, Dad, look, he's the Doctor! Let's go talk to him!"
"Paula, if we stop here we'll miss the start of the parade. We're already late for the concentration. We need to keep walking."
"No, what if this is really the Doctor? We can't lose this chance of talking to him."
Mario stared at her, trying to see if she was serious.
"Come on, Dad, they're leaving. We must go meet them!"
"Look, dear, they must be waiting for the parade. They'll probably still be here when it arrives at this point."
Paula hesitated. She didn't know how, but she was certain that was the Doctor there. But, really, that didn't make sense. After all, the Doctor is just a TV character, though a very cool one. Well, he could be David Tennant, she thought, and in that case she wanted his autograph. And a photo. Better yet, an autographed photo. She could go there by herself, but she was shy. Besides, they were strangers. She felt a shiver down her back as she saw them ambling in the opposite direction. It was now or never. If she didn't go, she'd never know who they were. Why didn't her father want to go with her?
Making up her mind, she suddenly dropped his father's hand and ran in their direction, as the two guys picked up their pace. Mario called for her to stop. But she knew he'd come after her, so she wasn't afraid. He'd be angry, but she didn't want to miss this opportunity. She noticed that the shorter guy briefly looked back, as if he wanted to see if they were being followed. She waved and ran even faster until she reached them.
She began walking beside them, slightly out of breath, and trying to attract their attention. But they didn't look at her and walked quickly, so she had to hurry to keep up. She guessed they were avoiding her on purpose. She felt her courage flag. After all that effort, should she let them just leave? But the short guy must have felt pity, because he slowed down and looked at her.
"Hi kid, what's your name?"
"I'm Paula. Are you the Doctor's companion?"
He burst out laughing. At this point the other guy slowed down as well and, frowning, he walked back to them.
"Philip, what are you doing?"
"Paula here is special, Doctor!"
This was when Mario finally reached them, puffing.
"Sorry for the bother, she really wanted to speak to you. Your costume is very good indeed!"
The Doctor guy seemed bemused, looking between father and daughter, while Philip observed, smirking. Then the Doctor took a leather wallet from his pocket and showed it to Mario.
"Don't worry, she's not bothering us. I came to see the Carnival in Rio, I've heard it's very good."
Mario looked surprised at the wallet.
"David Tennant? Oh, that's cool! But you look a bit different on TV..."
"Let me see, let me see!" Paula jumped and tried to look at the wallet.
David offered her the wallet, but she grabbed his hand and exclaimed, "I knew it! It's psychic paper! You're not David Tennant, you're the Doctor!"
"Doctor? Doctor who?" the guy asked, smiling.
Mario was certain he must be David Tennant, after all the Doctor is just a science fiction character. The wallet looked convincingly like what he imagined a British identity document would look like. Thinking better, though, he remembered he had no idea if the UK had national identity documents...
"The Tenth Doctor! I know! Your hand is cool, even in all this heat. You can only be a Time Lord!" exclaimed the girl.
"Paula!" Mario scolded her, while David looked at her strangely.
Before people began to stop and ask the reason for the commotion, Philip dragged the other three across the avenue and into the nearest restaurant, of the many lining Atlantica Avenue.
A/N: Okay, this is not your usual Doctor Who universe. How did the Doctor end up here? Just go with it, for the moment.
Next chapter: Pizza and chips