A/N: Hello FanFiction, so it seems we're just gonna keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (Sorry, woke up to Limp Bizkit of all artists) right through the story. Got a new location, new characters, a new threat (or is it new), and some things happening that might just get the plot in motion. I have nothing else that's super clever to say unfortunately, usually I got something. Oh well,

Enjoy.

Chapter 10

To him, it seemed nothing in the universe could surprise him anymore.

The Doctor, Rose, and Benjamin trekked along the coastline sharing stories of past experiences traveling with the Time Lord. Rose began with telling how she and the Doctor had met right up until she had been lost in Pete's World the first time. Ben made sure he didn't look like he was ready to cry when he envisioned them saying goodbye at Bad Wolf Bay. She intentionally left out the events at the Medusa Cascade, hoping the Doctor had already explained that or he didn't care about them meeting back up.

Benjamin lightened the mood with a slightly inaccurate version of him meeting the Doctor, which the Doctor shied away from correcting him on. Not to say that Ben was overly exaggerating the story, but the Doctor didn't recall any massive Dalek army or whatever it was that Benjamin said he had saved him and his mates from. Ben was a survivor, the last of a crew that had been abandoned by their superiors. With sheer cunning and a loose moral code, they managed to last as long as they did by doing what was necessary to survive. That was why the Doctor took the young man with him: to hope that he could show him a different way to live, and maybe learn something about himself along the way.

The planet the TARDIS had brought them was originally original home of the Aplans, now home to a human colony as of the fifty-first century. Judging by the condition of the Byzantium crash, at most only a couple years had past since the incident with the Weeping Angels. If there was any place to get a head start on finding ways to redeem himself, why not one of the places where he came and went after almost dooming the entire planet to die at the hands of a terrifying enemy.

Nearly twenty minutes passed as the three spotted a series of caves with what appeared to be a fifty-first century spaceship grounded by the entrance to the largest cave. The Doctor was keeping surprisingly quiet about where they were and his previous adventures on this particular planet. He gave his almost expected happy-go-lucky expression and they approached the main door of the largest cave. A middle aged man with Arabic attire came towards them in a hover speeder he was standing on.

"Welcome to Alfava, northernmost city on Alfava Metraxis. I am Ramsay Musselli. Pray may I ask, dear travelers, who are you?" Benjamin stepped forward to introduce himself and the group, leaving the Doctor amused at the notion of not getting the honor.

"I am Benjamin Westoff of Sto. This is Rose Tyler of Sol Three and The Doctor of Gallifrey." Ramsay's eyes immediately went to the Doctor with a look of mistrust towards the Time Lord.

"So, this is the famous Doctor who made us evacuate our homes nearly twenty years ago?" The Doctor was about to put up his hands in defense and leave towards the TARDIS, but Ramsay put on another smile as he laughed and patted the Time Lord on the back. "All was forgiven long ago, my friend. If anything, we are grateful that the Weeping Angels were disposed of. In truth, upon hearing the news of your triumph I had always hoped that we could have given you our proper thanks. Please, follow me. I will happily show you around Alfava." With that, the four of them hopped onto a hover speeder, passing a checkpoint which scanned the vehicle's ID number and allowed them access into the city.

He always felt like it was a privilege to learn about other cultures. What this colony had done was build an entire network of tunnels which utilized the caves to its advantage, should the colonists ever find themselves at war. Upon driving into a cave lit only by fluorescent lights across the ceiling, they reached the main square. The city was your average hustle and bustle of any city in any time period, but that fascinated the Doctor. He had seen his share of underground villages and bases built in caves, but this was something completely new.

The citizens had an established university, several churches (as the Papal Mainframe did help them establish the colony after all), a town government center, and a complete farmer's market. That must have meant they established a terraforming process somewhere and he wanted to get a good look at how that was accomplished.

"Say Ramsay, what's there for entertainment here in Alfava?" Benjamin asked, still soaking in the sight.

"On the third building to your right is our community theatre. We have been praised as hosting some of the best interpretations of writers from all planets, even reaching as far back as Sol Three's Shakespearian times. I myself was in a production of MacBeth as Duncan. It was a glorious event, ran for two months if I recall." The Doctor nodded as he reminisced on his own Shakespeare adventures.

"I'm not sure if it actually tops seeing the Bard in person at the theatre. Love's Labours Lost was quite the showing."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Ramsay asked, slightly confused.

"I'm older than I look" was the only response the Doctor would give him.

He took one look at Rose and she smirked at his playful arrogance, glad more than anything to be back to doing what the two of them did. Going somewhere new and learning something they never even conceived possible.

"And when was this little adventure, Doctor?"

"That, dear Rose, is quite a story. Not too long after, well you know, I found myself paying my friend Martha Jones a life debt by taking her to see Shakespeare in person. We found ourselves facing actual Carrionites, or witches as the more boring term." This peaked Rose's interest, partially based on seeing as how John never did quite fill her in on what happened in between Bad Wolf Bay trips.

"And how did you and Martha stop the witches?"

"With a little poetry, a little rhyming here and there. You're gonna love this. For the final line, we needed an 'us' word, the first thing Martha came up with was 'Expelliarmus'." Rose jumped at the memory of the Harry Potter phenomenon she grew up with.

"Harry Potter! Oh my god, did you seriously use that?" The Doctor just shrugged and put on his smug face with a wink.

"Ehh, it worked." They both shared a nice chuckle that continued until Rose caught something out of the corner of her eye and she asked Ramsay to slow down. He obliged quite willingly as a group of people were gathered around a Vinvocci who had collapsed in the square. The Doctor hopped off and immediately pushed his way towards the fallen alien.

"Out of the way. I'm a Doctor and I speak Vinvocci" he called out, fishing through his pockets until he grasped the Sonic. Pulling it out of his jacket, he set to scanning the Vinvocci. "Life signs are reading somewhat normal. You must have had one hell of a run. What happened?"

The Vinvocci responded in his native language, which the Doctor was able to mentally translate. He proceeded to speak, his emotion getting more and more intense as he continued to impart his tale. He was nearly exhausted from speaking and probably would have passed out until the Doctor told him he could relax and he would relay the information. He waved his companions and Ramsay closer towards him. Rose put on a half-smile, knowing some form of adventure was coming again. Benjamin and Ramsay, however, remained stone faced, not knowing what the situation was going to be this time.

"Well, it seems our friend here had a fairly frightening encounter. Apparently he and some of his crew mates were bringing some kind of shipment back here when they were ambushed down in a canyon about two leagues east. They were picked off one by one, but here's where it's interesting. There were no bodies left, they just vanished. Several possible theories, but I've seen this before plenty of times." He faced everyone in the group of people. "Clearly, this was the work of a criminal syndicate with teleportation capabilities. I don't know where his friends wound up but I do know there's a good chance whoever was responsible is still there and I vow, good people of Alfava, I will bring them to justice."

A mild applause rang throughout the crowd. Ramsay himself was impressed with the Doctor's public speaking but he knew when something was amiss. Shaking it off, he ushered the crowd to begin to dissipate. The Doctor helped him with this as he leaned in close to keep the conversation low.

"Ramsay, I'm asking to use your hover speeder to take myself and my companions with me. We're specialized in helping out with situations like this."

"Of course, my friend. Are you sure you do not require other assistance?" Taking one look at his friend and his lover, he knew the answer instantly. With a quick shake, the two made a move back to the speeder when Rose piped up.

"Actually Ramsay, may I ask. Has this sort of thing happened before?"

"Yes it has miss Tyler. We have heard reports over the last couple months of people disappearing in that canyon to never be heard from again. Why do you ask?"

"Can I speak with the families of the previous victims?" She held her hand up when the Doctor held up a finger with an exaggerated look of confusion. "I know what you're going to say Doctor, but this will be just as helpful, and I'll be careful. I promise."

The Doctor had to agree, even if it was reluctantly. Any extra form of intel would not only prove vital to figuring out this particular incident, but maybe would give a clue as to who was responsible for causing these people to be in distress. Imagine that, he thought to himself, back in my universe for three hours and I'm back in the swing of things.

"Well Ramsay, can you set her up?"

"Yes I can" he replied, "I will escort you to the government center and together we will speak with the victims' families."

As they walked back to the hover speeder, Ramsay asked if either the Doctor or Ben knew how to operate it. Luckily for Benjamin, it was a slightly updated version of what he used in his battalion's old ship. He dropped off Rose and Ramsay at the government center, then made his way towards the checkpoint. Upon scanning the ID, he made his out of the city to follow the coordinates given to him of the canyon. He could tell this was bothering the Doctor, but he didn't know if he would be able to pry his friend to get what he felt he needed to know.

"Relax mate, I'm sure she'll be fine. Ramsay seems like a good guy and from what I've gathered about her so far, she is more than capable of keeping him in line." He reassured the Time Lord, hopefully to some avail.

"That's not what I'm worried about, Westy. I'm worried about whatever's out there."

"What do you think it is?" He asked, hoping for the answer that would require action.

"Unfinished business." Benjamin could see that he was gonna have a hell of a time getting anything else out of his friend as the hover speeder continued to speed along to their destination. Neither one honestly knew what they were up against, but both figured that if they would both use their heads and figure out the best advantage to solving the problem, everything would work itself out alright.