Doctor Who/Ever After High
The Rebel Queen
Part 4
Raven breathed so fast it felt like her chest was on fire; her ankles felt a crushing pain as she realized too late that wearing heels and running for your life are not the best combinations. Still she made the best effort that she could to keep up with The Doctor as they ran from whatever creatures were chasing them within the chasms of the mind of the Dream Eater.
"You know for an old man you really have excellent cardio!" Raven huffed
"Well I tend to do a lot of running!" The Doctor said turning a corner to find they came to a sudden dead end.
"Oh great!, What do we do now?" Raven exclaimed.
The Doctor looked around and suddenly got a brilliant idea. "Well if we run out of corridor what should we do but…."
"Make a door!" He said pulling a piece of chalk from his coat.
"Ch-Chalk? " Raven said dumbfounded.
She then saw The Doctor write the outline of a door against one of the less sticky side of a wall and drew a tiny doorknob. He then pointed his screwdriver at the door and Raven saw as the door began to open to a bright light on the other side. The Doctor took her hand and a made a motion to the open door.
"Ready and….JUMP!" The Doctor said taking him and Raven through the doorway.
Raven heard herself scream as she fell what felt like an eternity, until she landed with a sudden yet soft thud. She looked at The Doctor pick himself up off the floor and then helped her up. They saw they were in a long hallway filled with nothing but doors.
"Ok I didn't expect this…"Raven said "Where are we now?"
"We are in the inner reaches of the Dream Eater's mind; I think we've given our welcoming party the slip for now. All we have to do now is find the right door that leads to his central cerebral cortex. "The Doctor said walking down the seemingly endless hallway.
"And then what?" Raven asked curiously
"I'm going to try to sever his connection with the students under his control, Break that connection and the whole kit and caboodle comes crashing down." The Doctor said "There's something you need to know Raven in case we get separated, This is the Dream Eater's inner mind, so do not trust anything you see. "
`` He gave her the small billfold he called psychic paper "Take this, it will give you just enough hints as to what to believe and what not to believe. "
Raven nodded slipping the billfold into her pocket. Even with her reputation and what she's seen her mother do, Raven felt a tinge of anxiety in this place, an anxiety that could have easily overwhelmed her had she not been with The Doctor. She couldn't explain it but she just knew that everything would be ok simply because he was here and taking charge. She wasn't fully sure where she was but she at least knew the safest place was behind The Doctor.
"Now let's see where any of this leads us..." The Doctor said tuning to walk down the corridor. He checked a couple doors to see they were locked. He took out his sonic screwdriver and used it on one of the doors. He opened it slowly to peek inside. Raven blinked on what seemed an eternity of waiting. The Doctor looked at her and nodded for her to look. She looked inside and had to stifle a laugh as she saw Daring Charming franticly crying among a room full of mirrors. With each mirror he looked at cracked instantly.
"WHERE AM I?" He wailed" WHAT KIND OF MIRROR BREAKS SO EASILY!"
"Maybe we should help him…"Raven chuckled as the Doctor stopped her
"Sure he's not happy but I think he's much safe here than where we are, the best way to help him is to find the Dream Eaters inner mind and stop him."
"We should waste too much time "Raven smiled "If Daring can't see himself for too long he might go insane!"
Before closing the door The Doctor took a small reading with his sonic and examined it, "Hmm, it's what I thought it is. "
He looked at Raven who now had her full attention. "Each of these doors is a memory pocket for the Dream Eater. We are in a fully interactive DVR, so to say. "
"In each of these doors are the nightmares that your friends are trapped in, but these doorways act like a TV channel for him to peer into , He isn't content with siphoning their mental energies, he wants to see the suffering he's causing.." The Doctor said darkly.
"And we're going to stop him!" Raven smiled.
Before The Doctor could acknowledge him two of the doors on either side of them swung open and formed a wall between them separating them. Raven desperately tried to pry open the door and tried to blast it open with her magic. With every blast and damage she caused to the door wall, the door wall quickly healed itself
"Great, just great" Raven sighed "looks like I'm on my own for now..."
She looked at the psychic paper as it formed a message "Find another way to the Doctor…" It read. She looked up to see the hallway begin to morph into a labyrinth before her eyes.
"No, this isn't creepy at all…" She said sarcastically.
"Raven!, I'll find another way to you!" The Doctor yelled through the wall "Raven?"
"Right, right fine. "The Doctor called out "Divide and conquer, yes the smart and obvious strategy. But if you think using the smart and obvious against me is that simple, then you have no idea who I am. "
The Doctor walked along the corridor until a side panel opened up for him and in the darkened hallway sat a single ragged door. Behind it was a purple light. From the door a light purple mist seeped from the cracks of the door.
"I'm getting the feeling this is an invitation." The Doctor said as he entered the room. It was bleak and scarce as only one object sat in the room.
It was a large mirror.
"I should have known it was you from the start. "The Doctor called out "Verspaforms aren't known to gorge themselves. "
"Well I felt you needed to be tossed a clue dear Doctor…" The Evil Queen said appearing inside the mirror. "My…my you have changed Doctor, the last time I saw you, you were an odd little man who played the spoons and terrorized my grandmother."
"If terrorized, you mean stopping her from enslaving all of London, then yes guilty as charged." The Doctor said coldly "What's your game? Are you trying to escape?"
"First off, I can escape anytime I want, and second you're right this is a game. I need to do something to pass the time while I'm in here, live a little and have some fun."
"So this idea of fun involves turning loose an alien creature on a student body that your own daughter is a part of!" The Doctor scolded
"All I did was give the creature a little pep a bit of vava voom! Besides Raven has it in her to stop the creature she always has, Even if it means she has to move back closer to her predetermined destiny. In the end everyone wins." The Queen goaded
"Everyone but her, has it never occurred to you that she may want to forger her own path?" The Doctor said
"You sound just like her a broken record! Raven is a dreamer but in the end she can't run from who she really is. You of all know that Doctor" She said narrowing her eyes at the Doctor.
"I gave you a choice long ago, something you want to deny Raven. Even if she chooses to fall like you did it still must be her choice…."
The Doctor saw a tinge of regret flash across the Evil Queen's face , a look that was quickly dashed away " You can't fight destiny Doctor, " The sooner Raven learns this the better. "
She focused on the Time Lord "You of all know this to be true Doctor, The butcher of your own people! The oncoming storm…."
"Stop it!" The Doctor hissed
"The man who always moves forward never daring to look back for fear of the shame he will see. Let me borrow some of that insight you have dear Doctor" The evil queen said as the image of her in the mirror quickly vanished into a vision
The Doctor could tell the Evil Queen was using his foresight "You see Doctor, Raven is destined for greatness than none of us will ever have dreamed achieved!"
Images began to flash across the screen of the mirror for The Doctor. He saw a grown Raven, Tall, clad in armor and with a cold heart. He saw her as she raised an army and conquered land after land. He then saw Raven turn her attention to Earth and then world after world.
"You see dear Doctor, Raven has the heart of a conquer in her. She will rise up and rule "The Queen said as The Doctor saw a final image of her with Apple White's heart in her hands and a dead Apple White lying before her feet.
"Then I will do what I always must do your highness." The Doctor interceded.
"Not even you will be able to stop her..."
"Who said anything about stopping? "The Doctor said smiling "I've gone by many names, but the name I'm most agreeable with your highness is an Idiot with a box!"
The Doctor made a step towards the door but turned back before he exited. "I'm going to do for Raven what I tried to do for you once, give her a choice!"
"It will be futile Doctor, do you hear me!?" The Queen screamed "Raven will follow her destiny and nothing, not even you can change that!" The Doctor could still hear her rant even as he made his way back through the hallways.
Raven followed the subtle clues left to her on the psychic paper; it didn't tell her where to go but rather pointed her in the right direction. She could feel as if something was calling to her mentally. It was a familiar thought, one she felt as she first would awake at 2 am. Raven saw another message appear on the paper.
"Left corridor three doors down. " Raven mumbled as she followed the instruction to a single white door. Unlike the other doors this one was clearly unlocked. Raven walked in and gasped as she saw not one but two Briar beauty's being held by and energy bubble, the same kind that had Apple trapped but only this time they were awake and aware. Below them on the floor were hundreds of dolls. She noticed that these dolls were tiny versions of Raven and the various students at Ever After High. Raven looked at the psychic paper to see the message.
"How well do you know Briar?"
Both Briars quickly noticed Raven
"Raven! What are you doing here?" One cried out
"Raven you have to get out of here! he wants you! You're the final piece!" The other said.
"Whoa wait what do you mean?" Raven asked as she looked at two Briars each trapped in their rose colored energy bubble. She was looking for any kind of weakness she could exploit.
"That monster he said he needed three girls with special powers that he was going to use to take over our lands!" The Briar on the right said.
"I'm the second girl he needed and he said you were the third!" The Briar on the left said.
"Would you shut up I was getting to that!" Briar number 2 said
"Don't listen to her Raven! She's an imposter! "You have to free the right Briar one of us is the Dream Eater and if you free him by accident..."
"He will take you and he'll be unstoppable!" Briar number one interrupted.
"Okay but who was the first girl he captured? Is it someone we know?" Raven asked
Both Briars grew silent. "I'm not sure…." Briar 1 admitted.
"She's a new student here, she's been here maybe a few days I haven't gotten the chance to know her, but she's here…."
"Where?" Raven asked as a new message appeared in the psychic paper.
"Somewhere in the massive pile of dolls…." It read "Free Briar first…"
Raven bit her lower lip and thought about what she was going to do. She knew time was a factor and whatever she was going to do, had to be done now.
"Ok I'm going to ask both of you some questions…."
The Doctor followed his sonic as the single led him deeper and deeper into the mind of the dream eater. He reached what looked like heave double doors. They were wooded and adorned with heave bolts.
"At least you made it obvious..."The Doctor muttered as he went to open the door.
He barely touched the door before it opened before him. The Doctor walked in cautiously as he saw it was a throne room of sorts, Pictures of the Evil Queen adorned the room, and The Doctor could feel a presence watching him from above.
"We meet again at least "The Doctor began," I was wondering why you called off the hounds against us, could it be you knew I couldn't resist a face t face with you?"
"You have failed Doctor, I already posses the Rebel Queen, it's only a matter of time before I can feat on the people of this world…" The voice of the dream eater called out.
"You need nightmares to feast and grow, what I have been trying to tell you is you have been wasting your time with these tiny morsels in this land, No what you need is a full 7 course meal and you can only find that in here!" The Doctor said as he pointed to his head.
"I have seen more nightmares than one person can even fathom! From before the dawn of time to the very end of the universe I've seen it all! If you want nightmares then look no further than me!" The Doctor said offering up his mind to the entity.
"Okay" Raven began" What was the first thing you ever said to me?"
"Hey would you mind getting off my hair?" Both briars said in unison
"Ooooh kay!" Raven quipped relying the first time she ever met Briar. Raven had just got to school orientation and was trying to read a bulletin on the board fully unaware that Briar was napping on the ground beside her and Raven had a foot on her hair. "Maybe something a little harder."
"Briar number one, who's destiny did I get when we were trapped in the storybook of legends?" Raven asked with suspicious eyes.
"Easy I was in your destiny!" She responded
"And who had your destiny?" Raven asked Briar number 2
"Apple!" She responded quickly.
This went back and forth in what seemed an eternity. Both briars answered each and every one of Ravens questions perfectly. It was starting to dawn on Raven that if the Dream Eater copied Briar he probably also had a copy of her memories as well. Raven had to resort to other methods if she were going to free the real Briar.
Raven then noticed a message on the psychic paper "What is Briar known for?"
"Of course!" Raven said as she got a clever idea. Ok you two I apologize in advanced, cause this is going to suck….."
With that Raven cast a spell and summoned two sewing needles, thin and sharp, before the Briar had a chance to react Raven sent them flying into each of their palms. Both Briars shrieked in pain as the needed dug into their skin.
"Raven! What the spell?" Briar number one cursed as Briar number two promptly fell asleep.
It was then that Raven had her answer, without a second thought Raven unleashed her magic and freed the second Briar, the true Briar as she collapsed into a heap onto the dolls below her.
"This changes nothing! You will be mine! , your destinies will be mine!"The Dream eater screamed as it morphed into its true form and vanished
Raven went to Briar and shook her gently. "Briar! Wake up! C'mon we have to get out of here!"
The Doctor felt the Dream Eater enter his mind, if he wanted nightmares, The Doctor was about to give it to him. "Look on my memories! See what I see and hear every time I close my eyes!
"Yes!" The Dream Eater said in enjoyment "The fear I sense is strong and pure!"
"This is just fear from the past that I've seen!, The Doctor said as he brought up past memories of monsters and enemies The Doctor has had to fight, Memories of Sukteh, The Sontarans, Morbius, and The Mara.
"This isn't possible Doctor! No evil like this could exist!"The Dream Eater said with a tinge of fear in his voice.
"This is nothing! Let me show you the fear of what I've recently seen and what I will see!" The Doctor said again showing him images of The Cybermen advancing, the scowl of the weeping angels, and the image of the Beast chained in its prison.
"No Doctor make it stop I can't handle it anymore! Please stop and I will give you anything!" The Dream eater pleaded.
"What's wrong Dream Eater? Has the sweet nectar gone sour? Is the taste too much? , No, no, let me show you the fear cause by the last great Time War!"
Then images of the Daleks flooded the Dream Eater's mind, in a flash he saw the fire, that madness and the rage. The Dream Eater saw the horrors of the Time war, The Skaro Degradations, The horde of travesties, the nightmare child, the could have been king with his armies of meanwhiles and never weres. Soon the screams began to fill the Dream Eaters mind; there were more screams of terror than anyone could ever count. "
The Doctor could feel the despair from the Dream eater as his mind broke and he screamed in agony. Then the world in which the Dream Eater created began to crumble and lose shape, The Doctor ran out of the throne room and knew he had to find Raven before the way out collapsed and anything still in this world would be lost forever.
Raven looked up as the entire room began to shake, She knew whatever it was that was happening was bad and The Doctor was probably behind it.
"Briar! We have to go now! Wake up!" Raven screamed as she shook her violently.
"WAKE UP!" Raven yelled as she laid a slap across Briar's face.
Briar snapped awake as her face was painted with a palm shaped red mark. "Ow! Raven! What the spell!"
"You can smack me later! but we have to go!" Raven sad pulling at Briar's arm, but briar stiffed up and she pulled back.
"No Raven! We have to find her! That other girl that the Dream Eater trapped first! We can't leave without her!"" Briar said digging through the dolls.
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" said the message that flashed across the psychic paper.
Raven joined in the search "Ok I can believe that she got turned into a doll, but what does she look like?" She said digging through the hundreds of dolls that looked like Raven and every student at Ever After high.
"I-I don't know! "Briar said "I barely talked to her and never got her name! But she was important to the Dream Eater!
"Hang on Briar I have an idea!" Raven said as she help up the psychic paper, "Listen you have to help us help you! Lead us in the right direction to you!"
Then messages began to appear n the paper as the girls used it as a homing beacon.
"Warm….warm….cold! Warm….warmer!" Raven called out as the moved the paper in the direction they were being led to.
"Warm…..warm….HOT! HOTTER!" Raven said excitedly as Briar grabbed a doll of a student she didn't recognize.
"We found her!" Raven called out!" Briar we found her!"
Briar pulled a lone doll out of the pile of copies; she had sandy brown hair with silver streaks in it. "Let's get out of here!"
The two girls ran into the hallway as the world around them began to crumble and wither away, they turned the corner and ran into The Doctor,
"Going my way!" The Doctor smiled as he grabbed both girls by the hand.
"Doctor! How are we going to escape?" Raven asked
"Easy! We jump!" The Doctor said as the three jumped into nothingness. Soon the nothingness began to take form as Raven and Briar opened their eyes to see they were back in the Castleteria, and all around them the students were freed from the webbing and dozing peacefully on the floor.
Raven stood up next to The Doctor as they surveyed the castleteria. "Did we do it Doctor? Did we win?"
"Yes Raven, The Dream Eater has been subdued, and by the looks of it, returned to its natural state." The Doctor said as he pointed to the shriveled body of the Verspaform, it was small grey and had thin arms and a scraggily body much like an over gown slug. Various growls and chatter could be heard from the creature
The Doctor then focused his attention to the girl that was brought out of the Verspaforms mind by Briar and Raven. "Hello, I don't remember you..."
Raven helped the girl with the sandy drown hair and glasses up "Are you ok? " Then Raven blinked as she got a better look at the new girl.
"Hey wait a minute, I know you don't I?"
"S-sorta," The Girl said "I'm new here; my name is Ciera Sands, Daughter of the Sandman."
"That's right; I'm supposed to be handling your orientation." Raven said, "That was….two weeks ago…"Raven said as she put two and two together.
"Let me guess, "The Doctor deduced "You have dream based powers…."
"That's right, 'She said "It's my destiny to form and craft beautiful dreams for people, and this little slug kidnapped me and my powers!" She said as she gave the Verspaform a hard kick. "He trapped me and used my powers to twist the student's dreams into nightmares ."
"I was more or less helpless, the only time I could communicate a SOS was when my powers are at their strongest at 2 am." Ciera explained
Raven blinked as it all made sense to her now "I was the only one you had met and it was you waking me up every night at 2 am! You were just trying to get my attention…."
"I knew you would come for me, Thank you both!" Ciera smiled to Raven and Briar.
Dawn had finally crept into the Castleteria at Ever After high as she students began to wake up dazed but refreshed. Their nightmares finally ended as it appeared to The Doctor and Raven that they were slowly starting to forget the events of last night.
"Just like a dream it will fade from their memories." The Doctor said "I imagine they will get some decent rest finally." The Doctor said as more than one student look around in utter confusion.
Briar saw this as an opportunity to act immediately "Hey everyone! I just want to thank you all for making my first annual Spring Slumber Party a success!" She shouted
Raven and The Doctor watched as the students of Ever After High gradually filed out and prepared for their day, Raven still wasn't sure what exactly happened, but she was glad The Doctor was there to take charge.
"So now what doctor?" She asked him as he picked up the passed out Verspaform by the tail she followed the Doctor into the outside the sun was shining again over the campus and peace was restored, they walked back to the storage sheds where the Doctor's TARDIS was waiting.
"Well for started take this little bugger back to the swamplands of his home world, maybe next time he'll think twice before stowing away!" The Doctor said studying Raven, He still hadn't found out the answer as to who called the TARDIS phone line and what could caused the cloister bell to go off. Then there was the matter of Raven's destiny and if anything that the Evil Queen said was true. The Doctor knew whatever was to happen he would handle as always but there was a big part of him that didn't want to stop Raven should she ever turn evil. If there was a chance he could take to somehow show Raven it wasn't enough to have her destiny in her hands she had to also know how and be willing to fight for it. It was at that moment the Doctor knew what he had to do.
"You know I could use a little help taking this creature back to its world." The Doctor began "And maybe afterwards hit a planet or two?"
Raven blinked "What you mean go to another planet in this? I don't know Doctor how long would it take ?"
"Well not only does the TARDIS travel in space it can also travel back and forth in time!" He smirked.
The Doctor would see the little wheels turning in Raven's face as she contemplated a trip of a lifetime, how many places do you think we could cover in a weekend?" She asked
"A weekend? Pfft! All of time and space!" The Doctor chuckled. "C'mon Raven Queen!
With that the Doctor ushered Raven into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS lit up at it began to disappear into thin air from bookend.
Little did The Doctor and Raven know their departure was recorded and from within a tea shop in Book end it was finally being watch as Cedar Wood sat across from the well dressed woman looking down at her mirror pad.
"Hmm , So he's off and found another companion, I don't think I like that, no I don't like that at all….." She said
"You don't like that at all "Cedar repeated
"No dearie I don't and I'll need you to act like a good little puppet and keep an eye on things here for me, I have plans in motion and the last thing I need is for little miss Birdy here to distract The Doctor.
"I'll keep an eye on things here "Cedar repeated, she was completely under the control of the woman now.
Missy stood up "Ta Ta for now luv, don't take any wooden nickels!" And with a quick press of her vortex manipulator Missy vanished from the tea shop….
NEXT TIME: The Doctor takes Raven to her first trip in the TARDIS, He brings her to a world where there is no magic, and fairy tales are only told in books. Raven makes her first trip to Earth. The Doctor and Raven travel to 21st centaury Salem Massachusetts, where the town is celebrating Halloween. But within this town an ancient evil is stirring, an evil that may make Raven's first trip her last!