Classic DW fans are gonna be bouncing off the walls for one part in this chapter and I'm hoping I do it justice! : )

Chapter 25

Rescue Mission

19th October 6824

Galaxy 2849 of the Klypton Cluster/ the TARDIS

Dad landed the TARDIS silently and I ran to the doors and opened them. In front of me was a wide steel door and I looked back at him.

''Really?'' I asked.

''I didn't want to blow our cover.''

I groaned, turned towards the door of the room we were in and opened it. Dad followed me after locking the TARDIS and closed the door firmly. Dad ran past me as I looked at the label on the door.

''Emma, come on!'' he said, grabbing my hand and forcing me to come with him.

As we ran down the wide, dark hall, I asked, ''Janitor's closet? Really?''

He ignored my question and we kept running. I was about to run ahead of him a few minutes later, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back behind him. He poked his head out from behind the corner for a second, then said, ''I've never seen these creatures before, but then again, we're in the corner of the universe.''

I was shocked. ''You're a thousand years old and you've never seen them before? You must have at least once-''

''SShhh,'' he said, looking down at me seriously.

''Sorry,'' I whispered in a guilty tone.

He looked back and by the loud hissing noise, I knew that our cover was blown. He turned, stood up against the brick wall, got out his screwdriver and said to me, ''Stay here.''

A loud blast was heard and it hit the wall we were hiding behind. Dust hit his tweed jacket and I asked him, ''How are you going to defend yourself with that?''

He turned to me and said, ''You'd be surprised how much I've updated it.''

With a fresh batch of over-confidence in his system, he extended his sonic, tested it out, then sprinted to the middle of the hall. He pointed it towards the adversary and lighted it. Sparks flew and the creature yelled in agony. I looked from behind the wall and saw the creature we were facing.

It was extremely thin. Its body resembled that of a human's physical make up excluding its head formation. It had an octagon-ish shape head, its eyes were small black beads and the eye lids opened and closed horizontally. The teeth and mouth were also horizontally aligned. Its limbs weren't exactly . . . fully connected and it was at least seven feet tall. Just the sight of it made me freeze in terror. I didn't know how Dad was facing it without being completely frightened. It turned towards me and Dad yelled, ''Emma! Get back!''

I turned back and leaned against the wall right before I felt the brick explode beside me. The loud buzzing of the screwdriver made more sparks fly which made the creature even more aggravated. While it was distracted, Dad sprinted towards me, grabbed my hand and we took off running again. To my surprise, the creature didn't even follow us when I looked back.

''It's not following us!'' I yelled to Dad when I turned back.

''Just keep running!''

We turned a corner and I asked, ''Do you have an idea of where they are?''

''Nope, but we're heading towards the dungeon. . . I hope,'' he answered with doubt in his voice.

I stopped, took my sonic out of my pocket, extended it and put it to the track setting. The screwdriver beeped quietly, so I turned the other direction and it beeped louder.

''I'm so glad I have you,'' he said happily.

We kept walikng, but when he came to a realisation, he stopped and said,''I don't even remember putting that setting on there.''

We started walking and I said, ''I put it on there just in case we needed it.''

''You're brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.''

''Thanks, but this one was pretty obvious.''

''Why do you say that?''

''Because it was. If you were looking for someone, wouldn't it be a bit helpful if you had some sort of tracking device?''

''No, I mean when did you start becoming an expert on screwdrivers?''

''I'm not that smart, I just found a way to put more settings on it and this type just popped into my head.''

''Emma, people don't just learn this stuff overnight. . . even the wisest Gallifreyans, even me when I first started, had a hard time trying to put just one setting on it.''

''I'm not going to become some sort of screwdriver enthusiast if that's what you're saying!,'' I said, becoming slightly hot tempered.

''That is not what I'm saying!'' he half yelled as he grabbed my shoulder and turned me towards him, which made me lose my grip on the settings button. He sighed, taking hold of his emotions, then resuming, ''Look, my point is that you are so smart for your age that you have enormous potential to pursue whatever you want.''

I sighed in frustration and said, ''That's not possible for me because of some stupid prophecy.''

He froze in shock and immediately asked, ''How did you find out about it?''

''Do you remember on the first day of school when I ran into an encounter with the Dream Lord?'' He nodded and I continued, ''Well, after, he told me about it. I don't know what it says, all I know that it's about my future and my destiny. He told me that you know about it.''

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the creature we were facing before, so I looked back, but it was gone when I did. I turned to face Dad, but he wasn't beside me anymore. I heard a thud and a groan below me and before my eyes, I saw him on the ground. His leg was covered in blood and the wound looked ghastly.

''Dammit,'' I said under my breath as I bent down beside him.

What am I gonna do? I'm not strong enough to carry him. I have to get him away from here before he comes to any further harm, I thought.

He coughed heavily and blood rolled down the side of his face.

''Emma,'' he whispered in a desperately weak voice, ''get me out of here. Carry me. There's no other way to do it, but I know you can. You're strong enough.''

I was about to protest when he said confidently, ''Emma. Amelia. Song. You can do this. I have complete faith in you. I'm sorry, but we'll have to go back for your friends later.''

Tears brimmed in my eyes as so many different thoughts whizzed around my head. I carefully put both arms under him and as I bent my legs and pushed myself up, I said, ''You've saved me too many times, but now it's time I saved you.''

A few silent tears made their way down my face, I was breathing heavily and I wasn't sure I could take even a step, but I ignored the thoughts and began running through the dark maze. I used my telepathic connection to signal the TARDIS and to my pleasure, it appeared a few seconds later after I turned a corner. It was about a hundred metres in front of me. I looked down to check on him and gold regeneration energy was surrounding him.

''No! No, no, no, no! Don't regenerate! It's not time yet! Don't go, Dad! Don't go!''

I forced my hands to produce regeneration energy and his formed with mine, going directly to his wound. I ran faster, kicked open the doors of the TARDIS and ran up the steps. I collapsed with him on the glass floor and cried tears of exhaustion and joy. They cascaded down my face and hit the floor.

''Hey, don't cry. What are you crying for?'' he asked in a whisper, putting a comforting arm around my shoulder.

I immediately wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. He recieved it greatfully, kissed the top of my head and whispered in my ear, ''You saved my life and I will be forever greatful towards you. You were so brave.''

I inhaled the scent of his tweed jacket and then we parted.

''What happened to you?'' I asked curiously.

''I think I know where they are,'' was all he said.

''Where? We were pretty close to the dungeon-''

''I don't think they're in the dungeon,'' he said, going over to the computer.

I caught up to his train of thought and asked, ''How could they be-''

A loud banging noise that was coming from the roof made me stop talking. We looked up, then looked at each other. Dad had his 'I have a plan' face on while I was kind of freaked out knowing that those creatures could even attempt to get into the time machine. While the banging noise continued, he turned to me and said, ''Emma, run. Just run as fast as you can away from here. I'll hold them off and find them just run!''

I could hear at least two of them trying to force their way in here. One partially tore its way through the wall. Dad was busy trying to put the shields to maximum when he looked over to me.

''Go!'' he yelled before he turned his concentration to the controls.

''I can't just leave you here-''

''They're after me! They see me as the highest threat, so I'm trying to get the TARDIS to avoid further damage! Go! I'll catch up with you later!''

I watched him pull a jammed lever up as the console sparked. Once I heard the hissing of the creature, I turned back and ran. After a minute of running, my connection with the TARDIS reached an unimaginable peak. I was walking down a corridor when I heard a loud scream in my head from her. It was like she was being intruded and hurt immensely at the same time. It made my head throb, so I put my hand to the sight of the pain and rubbed it. Thankfully, it stopped a few seconds later, but I was still traumatised by it after. Thoughts swirled around my head, making me paranoid that the creatures hijacked the ship, tore the console apart and killed Dad. I could picture it clearly, but I didn't let it bother me too much.

My current console room is too dangerous! I'm going to send you to a few archived rooms so you don't run into any more trouble! she yelled inside my head.

Thank you, I thought back in relief.

I ran down the corridor as she sent me directions to one of the archived console rooms. I turned a corner and opened the door of one of the rooms. I walked in and she hummed, sensing my presence as if she knew who I already was, but then again, the TARDIS is everywhere; the past, the present and the future. This one wasn't as massive or grand-looking as the current one, but it fit. The walls were white and overlapping the walls were large white cutout circles. The console itself was pentagon shaped, steel and the matrix was circular and very bulky compared to the current matrix. I also noticed a golden coat rack and a chair near the door. The sound of the thick doors opening on the other side of the room made me jump, so I ran for cover towards the wall.

There's no need to worry. They can't hear or see you, she informed me.

I came out of my hiding spot just as a girl about a year or two older than me and an elderly man came into the ancient time machine. The girl had black hair and she was dressed in 1960's Earth style clothing. Once she walked in and looked at every inch of it in awe, she said, ''Oh, grandfather, this is incredible.''

The man had made his way around the console, studying it intently and I completely froze once I figured out that he was the first incarnation of my father. I- I never knew he had a grandaughter. I don't even know barely anything about his past incarnations, but I thought that this would be the perfect time for me to learn about it.

''Yes, it is very remarkable. . .we better hurry,'' he said as he piloted the ship into the time vortex for the first time.

I walked out of the room towards the door to the corridor in the current TARDIS and it opened automatically for me. Once I walked out, I heard the door close behind me and I kept running through the maze of octagon arched corridors. While running, I past the swimming pool and one of the kitchens. I thought that I might do a couple laps since I'm working out so much today. I kept running for a while until I found myself in one of the more recent console rooms. As with the other room, she hummed as I entered through the side and found that this console had a. . . darker tone to it. The console was illuminated with green LED lights and the matrix was huge. It was the size of a column and a few long cylinders were inside it. Their were coral- like beams surrounding the room. Honestly, I kind of hated it because I wasn't used to it. I mean, I kind of liked it, but at the same time, I didn't like it.

I heard the sound of the key opening the door on the other side, but remembering what she told me last time, I sat comfortably in what I think is the pilot's chair. When I heard the door open, I peered over to see which regeneration this was. The man casually whistled as he took his long brown coat off, threw it on one of the beams and walked towards the console. He looked at the computer on the other side and I walked over to the other side to see what he looked like up close. He wasn't as tall as Dad, but he wore Converse, brown pants, a brown suit, a red tie and a white undershirt. His hair was brown and spiked up and he had enormous sideburns, much unlike his current self.

Which regeneration is this? I asked her.

His tenth, she answered.

Tenth? Well, that was a huge jump.

He turned in my direction and stared at me for a second, then his brown eyes wandered around the console room.

''Hello? Is someone there?'' he asked.

Run, Emma! He heard you, but only for a second; the connection between you and him sparked!

I sprinted out of the door I entered through and while I was running, he turned in the direction I was running, like he could hear my paniced footsteps. I ran right into the same console room, but a different man was piloting the ship.

Please tell me I'm still invisible, I thought.

Don't worry, you are, she answered.

Is the connection still up?

No. I'm sorry for the other incident. The only reason he heard you is because of what incarnation he was in. The closer he is to his eleventh, the more he can hear you, but only faintly. The connection with your parents officially started on your 13th birthday.

I'm guessing he's in his ninth now?

Yes, he is.

I walked around the console and looked at him. He was taller than his tenth regeneration, but it looked like Dad was about two or three inches taller than him. He had somewhat of a buzz cut and he wore jeans, a blue v-neck t-shirt and a leather jacket. A girl who looked about 19 or 20 with blonde hair, jeans and a pink t-shirt on walked in from the other side of the room.

He looked up and when he saw her, he said, ''Rose! Just the person I was looking for! How would you like to go to a planet where the beaches have automatic sand?''

She seemed impressed. ''I like your thinking.''

He walked around the console and while he was piloting the ship into the time vortex, I went out into the corridors again. I began to walk, but when I saw one of the creatures in the reflection on one of the lights, I sprinted as fast as I could through the twisting corridors. I turned around once in a while to find that it was getting closer and closer to me. I ran down the corridor faster and faster, but as I got halfway through one of the long corridors, I felt the floor below me flip on its side. Gravity was lost and I felt myself fall down quickly. I looked up and saw the creature looking down on me. I looked down and saw that nothing was below me and I was just falling through a deep black hole until I hit a black floor.

I looked up to find nothing but fog surrounding me. In the distance, at least a dozen male voices called out to me at different times, ''Help me!''

I stood, looked around for the men who were speaking and called out in a shaky voice, ''Who are you? Who's there?''

''We're his prisoners!'' one of them yelled in hatred.

Prisoners? I didn't know if I should believe them. Dad- Dad would never imprison anyone, but after travelling the universe for over 900 years, he had to make some enemies.

''From what?'' I asked with much curiosity in my voice.

''You're a companion. That's why you don't know anything. Many of his companions have stumbled upon us while wandering around this vessel.''

''I'm not a companion, I'm his daughter!,'' I said in offense.

''His daugher? You're the Girl of Two Worlds?'' another one of them asked.

''I am. Are you, by chance, Gallifreyan?'' I asked.

''We are,'' the other one answered.

''Show yourselves,'' I demanded, searching through the foggy darkness for signs of any figures.

''Emma!'' I heard Dad a few metres behind me.

''Emma!'' he said in displeasure. I felt him come behind me, grab my hand tightly and pull me away.

''How did you get here?'' he asked in a solemn tone, pulling me closer to his side.

''By mistake. I was running from the creature-''

''Don't you ever come in here again, wether by mistake or not. You wouldn't understand, and don't ask me about it. They are my buisness, my secret. Do not tell your mother about this, ever.''

We were still in the dark, foggy tunnel at that point and Dad still held me very close to him while holding my hand tight. We were quickly walking through it.

''Have you found them yet?'' I asked a few seconds later.

''They're in the console room,'' he answered.

I was relieved to hear that, but then I asked, ''What about the creatures? What are they?''

''I managed to disperse them throughout the ship and keep them away from the control room, but there's a tonne of damage.''

We suddenly ended up in one of the corridors after walking through a steel wall. He pulled me through the corridor and I looked back to see that there wasn't an entrance to it; his secrets need very well thought out hiding places. If I even tried to come back here, the TARDIS would change the location of it easily and besides, I couldn't find anything to help me find the exact spot. We ran in silence through the winding passage ways until I felt a strong vibration underneath my feet. That made me speed up more, as I knew that one of the creatures was on our tail. I heard the close but distant sound of a fusion of hissing and growling. I looked back once we turned a corner and I saw the blurred outline of the creature charging down the corridor, causing the floor to tear apart into pieces. Once I turned around, I felt something tear into my right arm. I can't exactly describe the feeling, it just felt wet and it burned all throughout my arm.

I yelled in pain and Dad had a firm, strong grip on my right hand. He pulled with all his might until I felt my arm release from the creature's grip. The disconnection made me shriek in agony. We ran through the arch until the doors closed a second later. I fell to the hard, unwelcoming ground as I heard the creature pounding and scratching on the door. I breathed deeply and heavily as I lay there in exhaustion and pain. My right arm felt useless and the burn stung like I'd been set on fire. I winced and a small tear made its way down my left cheek. I heard Dad get out his sonic and he scanned me.

''That's not possible. . . that is just not possible at all,'' he whispered to himself.

He stroked my hair gently, put his arm around my shoulder as carefully as he could and helped me to stand. Surprisingly, all I had from the attack was a large, widespread red burn mark. We walked for a bit more until my head started throbbing like mad. I put my left hand to my temple and staggered to the side of the corridor. I leaned against the side of the arch as memories poured through my head. I remembered being captured by the creature just a few minutes ago, it's dragging me through the corridors, I'm calling out for help but no one can hear me. . .

The sound of my head throbbing was the only sound I heard, at best my vision was blurry and I could barely hear Dad calling my name; his voice was a distant echo even though he was right in front of me.

''Emma. . . you're okay. You're all right. . .''

What. . . happened to me? I thought in a desperate but slightly confused voice to him.

''Listen; you are okay. The TARDIS is just making you remember past events; you're not supposed to remember them.''

''I was captured! You didn't save me! You didn't help me! Tell me what happened!'' I demanded in a frusturated and angry tone.

He sighed, put his hands in his face for a moment and said, ''Once the creature got your arm, it created a small tear in your time stream. That's how they work; they hijack ships and take anyone they can prisoner. The TARDIS tried to protect you . . . she temporarily split your timeline, but. . .''

After he said that, he seemed very burdened and stressed. I just couldn't imagine what he was going through.

''So you're saying there are two of me right now in the same moment in time, just in different places? How. . . what about the burn on my arm?''

''It's their mark, their poison. I'm sorry, but since two of you can't exist at the same time. . . you're dying. The poison weakens even you. . . I'm sorry.''

I felt my head throb even faster, my knees shook and gave way and before I hit the floor, I felt him catch me to make sure I didn't hit the floor. The second I did, my eyes opened the slightest bit. A bright light blinded my vision, so I looked down at my burn. It hurt even worse than before and I felt that it had spread up my arm and it was now near my collar bone. I was tied to a bed by some extremely tight black fibre; the bed was in an upright position. A tall figure blocked the light and stared at me with terrifying eyes before I became unconsious once more.

I am really sorry for the delay, I was going to post this chapter a week ago, but I didn't want to rush it and make the plot all dull and messed up. I had somewhat of a writer's block and then I had this amazing idea, so I got writing and finally finished it up : ) I know this chapter was kind of confusing, so PM me if u have any questions.