A little later, Matt explained everything he's been through with The Doctor as of late to Karen Gillan. He started sulking for a bit, wishing there was something he could do to help The Doctor and River Song, so to cheer him up Karen made a friendly dinner for the two of them. She made lasagna. She had no problem scarfing down her food, but Matt simply picked at it a few times. He couldn't get over how hopeless he felt right now. She glanced up from her plate and sighed when she saw him from across the table looking sad. "Still beating yourself up about it, huh?" She asked.
He nodded somberly. "I just wish there was something I could do."
"I'm not sure if there was much you could do if you were with them, to be honest." She admitted with a shrug and a frown. "The Doctor is a 1500 year old Time Lord. River is a skilled space marine. You're a 30 year old actor. Not much you could really bring to the plate."
"You say that as if humans don't do great things." He said with a sigh.
She groaned softly. "That's not what I meant and you know it. It's just this space and time travel stuff is bigger than you. Bigger than all of us. Compared to them, we're like...ants."
He scoffed to himself. "The Doctor would call us giants."
"You're not The Doctor." She said bluntly, only making Matt feel sadder. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, fearing she'd upset him. "Let me rephrase that...you're not The Doctor...but you have his qualities."
He looked up from his plate and looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." She started off. "There was a reason you were chosen to play The Doctor and that's because you have those...Doctor-esque qualities. On the outside, compared to him, he may seem bigger, but on the inside you're just as equal. Just as brave. Just as courageous. Just as funny. Just as mad. Just as brilliant as he is. That's why you're my best friend in the world. In a way...you're my Raggedy Doctor."
Matt smiled at her kind words. "That's sweet of you to say."
"Does it make you feel better?" She asked.
He shrugged. "A little, but not by much."
Karen sighed, wishing there was a way to make her friend feel better. Then she smiled when she had an idea. "I know what'll cheer you up!"
"What?"
"I was gonna show you later to surprise you, but with all this talk of space and time it completely slipped my mind!" She said with an excited chuckle. "Remember when I told you that before I start filming Guardians of the Galaxy, the director told me I had to make some...drastic changes?"
"Yeah?"
She smiled with a sigh and she grabbed a handful of her own hair, revealing that it's a wig. She pulled off her wig to reveal her completely shaved head. She had even less hair than Matt did. "This is the drastic change." She said with a slight giggle.
His mouth completely dropped, eyes widening wider and wider the more he stared at Karen from across the table. Then he just burst out laughing at the sight of her bald head.
She rolled her eyes and blushed a bit. "It's not funny!" She said, laughing a bit herself.
"It's hysterical is what it is!" He laughed harder, holding his ribs. He got up and shimmied his way over to her laughing. "It's like we're twins now!" He felt his own head with one hand and started to stroke her head with the other like a magic crystal ball. He gasped. "Bloody hell...you have less hair than I do! It's like touching a newborn baby!" He laughed some more.
"Oh, shut up!" She chuckled and playfully slapped his chest, but then raised an eyebrow when she felt something there coming from his jacket pocket. "Matt what's that?" She asked curious to know.
"What's what?" He stopped laughing, catching his breathe as he stuck his hand into his jacket pocket. He paused in shock when he found a vortex manipulator.
"Isn't that that thing that River and The Doctor teleported out with?" She asked.
He nodded, looking at the vortex manipulator in his hand in confusion. "Looks like it...but how on Earth did it get in my-" He paused when he remembered River said she was saving her personal vortex manipulator for the right moment and just before he walked into Karen's house, River hugged him. That must have been when she put it in his pocket, he thought. "I think River snuck a spare one in my pocket."
"Why would she do that?" Karen asked as she stood up to get a better look at the vortex manipulator.
He scratched his head for a moment, trying to figure that out himself, until it quickly donned on him. "I think she wants me to help." He said as he started punching coordinates into the vortex manipulator.
"For what? They looked like they had Operation Save Sydney taken care of." She pointed out.
"Yeah, but I can still save the others! Who knows what's happening to them as we speak!" He pointed out. He was just about to press down on the vortex manipulator to transport out, but paused when Karen said...
"But storming in there could be dangerous!" She said worriedly.
He shrugged with a grin. "What's wrong with a bit of danger?" He winked at Karen.
"But Matt, you're not some superhero or something! You're just some guy!" She pointed out.
"I'm not just some guy..." He said with a grin. "I'm The Doctor!" He exclaimed with a pure smile as he pressed down on the vortex manipulator and disappeared to which Karen gasped, eyes lit up.
"Matt! If you die, I'll kill you!" Karen yelled at thin air.
Moments later, Matt appeared back in 1851 on a snowy Christmas Eve. He smiled when he realized the device worked, but then put his more serious face on when he started running, looking everywhere for the alleyway leading back to the underground headquarters. All he knew was that in order to save everyone, he had to think like The Doctor. After a few minutes of searching...he found the TARDIS in the alleyway so he knew he found the right spot. He started to look for the secret passageway along the walls, but then he figured...why not use the TARDIS. The door was still opened. He walked into the TARDIS, closing the doors behind him. He walked up to the controls. He gulped because the controls looked much different than on the show and he had no idea what to do. He breathed in and breathed out, putting a hand on a lever and then looking around the corridors surrounding him. "Alright, Sexy...or Baby...I don't know what he calls you...can you please just...help me out? Guide me? Teach me how to use you, if you can? Please?" He asked the TARDIS. He felt like a fool waiting for an answer so he just pulled the lever and the TARDIS made a noise. "God, I hope that means yes." He said nervously to himself.
Suddenly, some minutes later, the TARDIS crashed down through the ceiling of the headquarters. All of the prisoners looked at the TARDIS in confusion. All of a sudden, Matt walked out of the TARDIS looked staggered. He tried to laugh it off. "Oh, hello everyone! The TARDIS is a doozy to pilot! Much easier when it's just a prop on set!" He laughed a bit before stumbling and bumping into a Dalek. He put his fists up, as if he was actually going to fight off a Dalek.
"Don't worry. They all shut down." Georgia, the only free prisoner, said as she approached Matt. "Where's The Doctor?"
"He's saving the world. I'm saving you!" Matt said with a grin. "Now help me take those shackles off of everyone."
"I can't." She said. "I already tried. There's no key and those locks look unbreakable."
He chuckled a bit. "Nothing's unbreakable. Only inaccessible."
"What does that even mean?" She asked confused.
"It means every door can be opened without a key. You just need a proper substitute." He replied, rubbing his hands together feeling anxious. This was all getting rather exciting for him. "Now lets just think up a proper substitute, shall we?"
"How?" She asked even more confused."
"We're gonna mold some stuff together and go full on MacGyver!" He spouted. "Now let's see what I've got in my pockets..." He started ruffling through his pockets, pants and jacket pocket. "...uh...50th script in my back pocket...some gum in my jacket...a pen...a-" He paused as he looked deep in his pants pocket and smiled wide when he found what he found. "Oh, that clever, clever River!"
"What? What is it?" Georgia asked.
He pulled out a sonic screwdriver. "She must of stuck this in my pocket too! Unbelievable woman!" He exclaimed as he ran over to the prisoners and one by one loosened everyone's shackles. Within moments...Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, Peter Davison, John Hurt, David Tennant, and Christopher Eccleston were all free. When David Tennant was free, he immediately ran over to his wife Georgia and kissed her and hugged her tight. Once Peter Davison was free, his daughter Georgia ran over and hugged her father. Once Matt was finished, he made his way back over to the TARDIS. "Everyone inside the TARDIS!" He commanded like a natural born leader. They all went into the TARDIS. Some paused when they saw how big it was on the inside. Matt rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers to rush them along. "People! People! No time to reminisce! It's not like you haven't seen this on the show! Now come along!" Matt ordered, causing everyone to scurry on in. "Everyone all right?" Matt asked everyone.
"A little bit traumatized but we should be fine." Said John Hurt.
"You can say that again." Paul McGann sighed. "I don't know about you lot, but I need a proper drink after going through that."
Richard E. Grant chuckled a bit at that. "Any more drinking, we'll be having a Withnail sequel." Richard started laughing with his friend Paul.
Hurt shrugged. "Oh, count me in on that. After that, I'm not sure if I want to play The Doctor anymore. I might have to pull an Eccleston."
"Oi! I resent that comment!" Gasped an appalled Christopher.
"You can all resign from your respective acting careers when this is all said and done, but we have one last trip to take beforehand." Matt pointed out as he walked over to the controls. "Did Morrissey and The Master say where they were going?"
"Just before they left, The Master said 1st of March 1962." Georgia nodded.
"That's when Sydney Newman pitched the idea, isn't it?" David asked. He knew right away because he was always skilled in Doctor Who trivia.
"Looks like it." Matt sighed. "Hopefully, we find The Doctor and River Song when we get there and hopefully we find him before The Master.
"River? That was really River Song?" David asked with a gasp.
"Who the hell is River Song?" Asked Christopher.
"You really don't keep up with new episodes of the show do you?" David asked, squinting his eyes in curiosity Christopher's way.
"Everybody! Quiet!" Matt ordered as he cracked his knuckles and smiled. "Daddy's working over here!" He said as he starting working on the controls; flipping switches and pulling levers as if he was a kid grabbing candy in a candy shop...as if he was a mad man...as if he was really The Doctor.
