Chapter 11

The Magical TARDIS Tour

Ginny stood cautiously in front of the blue police box. In all of her years as a witch – and more recently – this was by far the strangest thing she'd seen. Well, maybe besides a teenage warrior and evil robotic animals.

"How does this work?" she asked herself. "There has to be a switch or something…"

Jason looked over her shoulder. "Any luck yet?"

"Not so far. I've tried a dozen reading spells on this "box," and all I come up with are blanks."

"Hmm," replied Jason. "Is this magic?"

"If it is, it's extremely good magic," said Ginny. "But it feels almost outside it. Something that doesn't fit into the mystical food chain."

Jason took a moment to capture the box in his line of sight. Then he walked to the door and grasped the handle. He applied pressure, and the door opened.

"What?!" exclaimed a shocked Ginny.

He smirked. "Maybe it was open the whole time. Talk about a lazy owner."

Ginny stared into the interior. It almost looked like there was more to be seen inside. Stepping forward, she was shocked to see a room much bigger in there than it was outside of the box. It was a circular room, with light displays and railings and staircases peppered around. In the center was a console, levers and screens pertaining to it. The interesting thing was that none of the lights appeared to be on.

Hoping that she was dreaming, Ginny walked back through the door and found that the box was smaller on the outside. "Impossible!" she exclaimed.

"What?" said Jason.

"This box…it's bigger on the inside!"

"No way," Jason said. But as he walked through the doors, the thought melted away when he took it all in as well. "Whoa."

Ginny joined him inside, peering along the walls. "How is this happening? It shouldn't work!" said Jason.

"In my world, some wizards and witches create expanded spaces through gateways inside of other objects. I can't tell if it's magic, but it seems to work the same way."

"Still, it's just so…weird." Jason meandered over to the console. The screens were black and the levers looked immobile. "Everything here looks dead, like it's out of power."

Ginny joined him. "Let's see if I can figure this out." She produced her wand before aiming it at the console. A second later, the screens lit up to display charts of unknown origin. The lights under the bridge and around the walls began to radiate in a traveling pattern, whooshing like a deep chime. To the duo's shock, the doors closed suddenly.

"What's happening?" Jason exclaimed.

"I don't know! I just aimed my wand at it to do a spell, and it came to life!" Ginny exclaimed.

As the lights continued to swirl around, the duo could feel the box becoming less heavy before they were thrown to the railing unexpectedly.

"What was that?!" Ginny cried.

"I don't know, but hang on!" Jason said. The good news was that they were moving. The bad news, it was going to be a bumpy ride.

The Doctor and Cassian moved through the massive brush, attempting to discern where they were. The signature from Jyn's necklace had lead them on a straight path for a while now. However, it had become wayward as of late. Cassian was even more annoyed they hadn't found her yet, especially through the trees coupled with mist.

"Any luck, Doctor?" he asked once again.

"I'm not some fortune reader," the Doctor replied. "My sonic has her signature, but from the looks of it, she's far away. We have to keep going."

"And where is that going to get us? Wandering through more mist?"

"Hold it right there."

The two men froze, only turning their heads at the voice. Out of the mist stepped a man in a dark green suit. He had on a hood and a mask that perfectly concealed his identity. Armed in his hand was a high-tech bow and an even more sophisticated arrow. He didn't look friendly.

"Who are you?" the man asked through clenched teeth.

The Doctor spoke. "Well for your information, 'dark and scary', I'm the Doctor. And this is Cassian. He's a pretty touch chap. We're just looking for his friend."

"Cassian!" a femine voice sounded before a rough-looking woman darted through the mist towards him. He looked in shock as she grabbed him into a hug. "I was looking for you all over!"

"Me too…" Cassian said as he winced because of the tight hug. Once she let him go, he relaxed normally. "Who's your hooded friend there?"

Jyn turned to Green Arrow. "He's a vigilante with a bow and arrow from…someplace else. We helped each other out and decided to hang until we could find our friends. Your companion is a… doctor?"

"Well…"

"If I'll have you know, I am an alien," the Doctor said with wit. "And I am a genius."

"Enough," Green Arrow barked. "We need to figure out where we are."

"You don't think we've tried, do you?" said the Doctor. "Wherever we are, something took the time to steal my TARDIS."

"TARDIS?" Jyn asked, obviously confused.

"His spaceship," Cassian said. "Though from what he says, it looks like a phone box."

The Doctor looked hurt at the comment. "Look, it's a time travelling phone box bigger on the inside than the outside. In the wrong hands, it could cause a tear in the time-space continuum. And if whoever brought us here has it-"

"-They could do some serious damage," Jyn finished.

"Exactly," he said.

"Is that it?" Green Arrow said, pointing a finger at the sky. The group turned to see a blue police box spiraling in the sky. It then occurred to the Doctor the TARDIS was heading straight for them. Whoever was flying it had no idea, most likely.

"Everyone, run!" he exclaimed. The group took for cover under some nearby trees, barely getting out of the way when the TARDIS collided with the ground. Dust and grass flew, but nobody has been seriously hurt. Well, maybe the ship had.

The doors opened and two young people came out. A tall blonde boy and a peculiar ginger girl with a stick in her hand appeared. Before they could talk, Jyn and Cassian had their blasters aimed at them. "Who are you, and why did you try to kill us?" the latter asked.

"What?" the boy said. "We didn't try to kill you, the ship went haywire!"

The girl did a small flick with her stick and the rebels' weapons flew out of their hands. In the momentary shock, she talked. "We found this 'box' and went inside. Then it turned on and dropped us here. Think what you want, but we didn't do anything."

The Doctor moved forward, obviously intrigued. "She's my ship. What'd she look like inside?"

"The controls were dead," the boy said. "But somehow it locked us in and turned on."

"Weird stuff's been happening here," Cassian said. "I attacked the Doctor out of nowhere, and now this. It can't be a coincidence."

"But…stuff like this can't be true," said Jyn. "That wouldn't make sense."

"I've seen things that defy logic," Green Arrow stated. "If anything, this is believable."

The Doctor turned to the two young adults. "Well, I can't blame you for it going nuts. But who are you kids?"

"I'm Jason, and this is Ginny," he replied.

"He's an alien warrior, I'm a witch," she said bluntly.

"Hey!"

"Nice couple," Jyn said sarcastically.

Far off in the distance, the machine watched. The fires burned bright inside of these six strangers. It hungered to cut them up and feast, but its master denied that. He wanted everyone to come, to unite. Even at the cost of his kin.

So the robotic gecko slunk back under the brush. It would take some time, but his small moment of dangerous enjoyment would come.

Fun chapter, huh? The next one unites the last six people unaccounted for, and then EVERYONE is going to come together... like a Potluck!

Thanks to everyone who reads this! This fic is fun to write!