The Doctor was walking around the other side of the console, cheerfully telling Rory about one of their more interesting adventures that the man had missed, "...and then we discovered it wasn't the Robot King after all, it was the real one," he was saying as Rory listened from where he was sitting on one of the jump seats, staring at the rambling man with an expression of dubious amazement, as if he wasn't entirely sure he ought to believe what he was hearing. "Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head," he laughed slightly.
Rory shook his head at him and looked up with a smile as Amy appeared from the upper level of the room, walking down the steps to join them, "Do you believe any of this stuff?" he asked Azezela, knowing Amy had been there. Before frowning worriedly as Amy just walked under the console.
"Yeah, I do." Azezela smiled from where she was sat reading on one of the chairs, in a high-necked black dress to the floor. "Don't you think it makes life more fun."
"Hmm." Rory nodded looking at her as she didn't even look up from her book. "That it does."
Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed, waving a hand around at the console in annoyance, "It's the warning lights!" he shook his head, drawing Azezela's attention back to him, moving around the controls to see the little blinking lights, as well, "I'm getting rid of those," he said, tapping the offending lights, "They never stop!" he kicked the underside of the panel.
Rory walked down to talk to Amy as Azezela said "don't kick her."
The Doctor looked at her with a frown. "What's wrong with them?" He said looking at them worried as Amy had been looking at him strangely since before New York.
"I'll go see." Azezela Said with a small smile as she walked downstairs in time to hear Amy say
"We saw him die."
"Yeah," Rory nodded "two hundred years in the future." He said to comfort her.
"There is nothing we can do about its Amy. I am sorry." Azezela Said still stood on the stairs looking sad. "If we could, River and I would have told you."
Amy sighed deeply. When Suddenly, there was a loud, rhythmic knock on the doors from outside and they all froze, slowly turning to look over towards it, shocked.
"What was that?" Amy asked curiously, walking back up the steps, Rory right behind her.
"The door." Azezela Said looking rather confused. "It knocked."
"Right..." Rory frowned, glancing at the doctor in confusion, moving to lean over the railing overlooking the doorway, "We are in deep space..."
"Very, very deep space". There was another rhythmic knock as the Doctor walked closer towards the door, pausing as he reached it, and spinning back around to look at them, "And somebody's knocking," he commented, looking quite excited by the prospect as he mimed knocking on something. He turned back around and opened the doors, only to find a small, glowing cube floating in space before him. The Doctor broke into a wide grin, looking back, before turning back to focus on the cube, "Oh, come here," he urged it, "Come here, you scrumptious little beauty!" he held out his hands towards it, but the cube flew straight past him and into the room, zooming around Amy and Rory as they stood at the top of the stairs, forcing them to duck as Amy yelped. The cube flew back over to the Doctor, where it slammed into his chest and bounced off him to land on the ground as he was sent toppling onto the ground beside it from the impact.
"A box?" Rory questioned, eyeing the little cube with a frown.
"Doctor, what is it?" Amy looked at him
The Doctor popped back up, cradling the cube in his hands as he stared at it in wonder, looking quite breathless, "I've got mail!" he grinned excitedly. He climbed back onto his feet and quickly and dashed back up the stairs to the controls, practically skipping, the box still clutched tightly in his hands as they began dancing around the controls. "Time Lord emergency messaging system. In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and" The Doctor held up the cube, "...and send them through time and space," he continued brightly, lowering the cube back to his side, "Anyway!" he hurried around to stand beside the brunet before the humans, almost humming with excitement, "There's a living Time Lord out there," he beamed, looking at Azezela happily as she stood and smiled happily at him. He turned back to Amy and Rory, his eyes very bright, "And it's one of the good ones!"
"Thank goodness." Azezela Said with a wink towards the Doctor making him chuckle happily.
"You said there weren't any other Time Lords left," Rory reminded them, crossing his arms across his chest.
"There are no other Time Lords left anywhere in the Universe," the Doctor agreed, still grinning, "But..." he tossed the cub in the air easily caught it, "...the Universe isn't where we're going!" he informed them. "See that snake?" He showed the three of them the image of a snake eating its own tail.
"The Ouroboros." Azezela Said with a small smile.
"You know it?" Amy asked looking at her curiously.
Azezela smiled slightly and just lifted her skirt to mid-thigh on one side. She waved her hand and There were Tattoos scattered down her leg and just above her knee was an Ouroboros with a tree inside it. "It's a sign of life, rebirth, death. Immortality and Fertility."
The Doctor looked over her legs appreciably before noticing some runes and attempting to translate it, but she dropped her skirt. So, the Doctor turned back to the Cube and revealed. "It's The mark of the Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times." he broke into another wide smile, spinning around on his heel, "Ooo, she was a bad girl."
"She/he sounds like fun." Azezela Said looking at the Doctor with a smirk.
"Oh, he was." The doctor laughed, before looking at her clearly. "You definitely have some stories you have left out. You have more tattoos?"
"Oh yes." Azezela Said with a grin.
"Let's do this later, yeah." Amy said sighing looking between the pair of them.
He continued to look pleased with himself as he grabbed a lever, pulling it down. The console sparked and began jolting around, forcing them to all grab hold of the console. Azezela and Amy gripped on tightly as it all jolted.
"Whoa!" Rory yelped, his eyes widening in alarm as he held on tightly, "What is happening?"
We're leaving the Universe!" the Doctor called over all the shaking.
"How can you leave the Universe?" Amy asked loudly.
"With enormous difficulty!" the Doctor replied, raising his voice, "Right now I'm burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some welly! Goodbye, swimming pool!" he reached across the controls, hitting a couple of buttons and twisting a dial, "Goodbye, scullery! Sayonara, squash court seven!" he sighed slightly regretfully, pulling a lever, and making the console spark again.
Amy and Rory yelped loudly as a show of sparks burst out of the control panel, the Azezela pulled the monitor around to look up at it, watching as they hurtled towards a large, slightly glowing green planet. They landed on the planet's surface with another sharp jolt, almost sending them toppling onto the floor as the jolting and shaking finally calmed down.
"Okay," Amy breathed, slowly straightening as she pushed her hair out of her face, "Okay, where are we?" she glanced at the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled excitedly, his eyes bright. "Outside the universe," he grabbed Azezela's hand. "where We have never, been."
Suddenly, the lights began to dim all around the room, leaving them only with the emergency lighting and the flashing red alert lights that had turned themselves back on, still blinking rapidly.
Rory frowned, looking around at the darkened room, "Is that meant to be happening?" he asked worriedly, looking quickly back to the Time Lord.
The Doctor began hitting buttons and pulling different levers, but nothing seemed to happen, "The power..." the Doctor remarked, growing more and more frantic, "It's draining...everything's draining! But it can't," the Doctor shook his head, growing more alarmed and worried. "But it can't. That's, that's impossible."
And then, even the emergency lighting turned off, leaving them in complete darkness.
"What is that?" Rory looked around, startled. Even the temperature in the room seemed to drop very slightly, as if a heater had just been turned off.
"It's as if the Matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished," the Doctor shook his head, slowly looking around the darkened room, "Where would it go?" Azezela grabbed his hand in comfort, leaning into his side to try and comfort him.
Slowly, the Doctor began to make his way back down and across to the doors, figuring that there was little point to staying inside the TARDIS. The Doctor carefully opened the door and peered out, before stepping out fully pulling Azezela right behind him with Rory and Amy cautiously following behind her. They seemed to have landed on some sort of huge junkyard, bits of old spacecrafts scattered around in piles and even what appeared to be the back jets of a crashed rocket that loamed above them. The air was quite chilly and white mist hang in the air, along with an unpleasant smell.
So, what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked curiously, closing the TARDIS door behind her.
"He was in a bind," the Doctor muttered, looking around at all the junk, "A bit of a pickle, sort of distressed..."
Azezela chuckled. "you can't just say you don't know, love." He looked over to her and shrugged, seeming to prefer his way of saying it.
"But what is this place?" Rory frowned, holding his hands out as his eyes flew around, not seeming to be very impressed, "The scrap yard at the end of the Universe?"
"Not end of, outside of," the Doctor corrected, spinning around to face Rory's confused expression.
He continued to look confused, lifting a finger, "How can we be outside the Universe?" he questioned as the Doctor draped his arm around his shoulders, "The Universe is...everything".
"Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside".
"Okay..."
"Well, it's nothing like that," the Doctor shook his head dismissively before he released Rory and walked back over to the TARDIS, "Completely drained!" he sighed, patting the doors, "Look at her!" Azezela stroked the side of the box, sad.
"Wait..." Amy cut in, leaning her elbow against an old, dirty looking washing machine, "So we're in a tiny bubble Universe, sticking to the side of the bigger bubble Universe?" she said, trying to follow along.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking away from the Tardis to Amy. "No... but if it helps, yes," he continued, He looked around the junkyard, "This place is full of rift energy," he commented, glancing back to the TARDIS, "She'll probably refuel just by being here. The gravity is very similar to that of Earth's and the air is breathable, or though..." he paused, grimacing again at the terrible smell, "It's rather unpleasant".
"It smells like..." the Doctor began, trailing off as he hopped into an old, rusted bathtub, sniffing the air.
"Armpits," Amy supplied, making a slight face.
He clicked his fingers and pointed at her, "Armpits!"
"It smells terrible." Azezela Said simply, giggling at the sight of the Doctor stood in the bathtub.
"What about all this stuff?" Rory poked at a dangling, lantern-like light that looked like someone had just tried putting random objects together, "Where did this come from?"
"Well, that is a side effect of being so close to a rift, Things can get sucked up and spat out on the other side of the rift." The Doctor clicked his fingers realising, "Not a bubble!" he corrected himself, hopping out of the bathtub, "A plug hole. The Universe has a plughole and we've just fallen down it".
"Thief!" a woman's voice suddenly cried out from in the distance, "You're my thief and his witch!" they all looked up, startled to find a young woman running towards them, pointing at the Doctor and Azezela with her dark brown hair pilled messily on top of her head and wearing a pale blue Victorian style dress, while behind her an older man and women chased after her, wearing completely mismatched clothing.
"She's dangerous!" the older woman warned them, "Guard yourselves!"
The woman ran straight to the Doctor, practically launching herself onto the Doctor, "Look at you!" she gasped, staring up into his face, "Goodbye! No..." she shook her head, closing her eyes briefly, seeming to be trying to think, "Not goodbye, what's the other one?" and she suddenly grabbed him by his neck and kissed him roughly.
Azezela looked at the woman with a small frown as she looked at her. That wasn't a woman, she had to talk to her, she was... she stared in shock at the woman kissing her doctor. Before she broke away and stared at him happily as he stared at her shocked before shooting a look at Azezela.
"Watch out!" the older man said quickly, "Careful, keep back from her...!" he grabbed the women's shoulder and pulled her away. Amy and Rory stared at the scene in shock as the older man turned back to them, standing between them and the woman, "Welcome, strangers," he greeted them with a slight accent, smiling, "Lovely. Sorry about the mad person".
"Why am I a thief?" the Doctor asked warily, watching the madwoman as she walked around the older man and woman, looking around at everything curiously. "What have I stolen?"
"Me," the woman replied, looking back to him, "You're going to steal me. No, you have stolen me. You are stealing me. Oh, tenses are difficult, aren't they?" she frowned, speaking very fast.
"He has stolen you." Azezela muttered and she nodded at her. "Tenses can be difficult."
"Oh, we are sorry, my doves," the older woman told them, stepping forward, slightly hunched over as the madwoman made her way over to Amy and Rory, picking up a bit of Amy's hair and examining it curiously, "She's off her head..." she reached out and grabbed the Doctor's hand, shaking it, "They call me Auntie," she introduced.
"And I'm Uncle," the man stepped forward, shaking the Doctor's hands, "I'm everybody's uncle..." he gave them a little smile and pattered the Doctor's cheek, almost fondly.
The mad woman hugged Azezela tightly as they spoke, Azezela hugging her back.
Uncle looked over and saw this. "Be careful of Idris... she bites!"
"Do I?" the woman looked up to him, her eyes widening, "Excellent." She Said still hugging Azezela before biting into her collar bone.
Instantly, everyone began shouting, Auntie and Uncle rushing forward to help pull the woman off her as the Doctor immediately tried to check her neck but couldn't due to her outfit.
"I'm fine," Azezela Said with a small frown. "Just shocked me is all, not her fault."
"Biting's excellent!" the mad woman remarked brightly, smiling broadly, "It's like kissing, only there's a winner".
"Hmm that's actually a good point." Azezela Said with a small smile now seeming vastly amused. "I always did enjoy your sense of humour."
"Always?" The Doctor Said looking at her confused. "What?"
"Tenses and that's not really the best way to say that." Azezela said frowning slightly.
So sorry," Uncle cut in, glancing at the madwoman, "She's doolally".
"No, I'm not doolally," the woman shook her head, "I'm-mmmmm...I'm-mmmmm...it's on the tip of my tongue..." she gasped, before her eyes widening suddenly, looking back over to the Doctor, "I've just had a new idea about kissing. Come here, you!" she lunged at the Doctor, but he dashed over to Amy and Rory, hiding behind them as the couple quickly put their hands out to hold the woman back.
"No, Idris!" Auntie shouted, grabbing the woman's arm, pulling her back, "No!"
Idris stopped suddenly, eyeing the Doctor, "Oh, but now you're angry," she frowned at him, looking slightly concerned as her eyes focused on him. "No, you're not," she shook her head as the Doctor looked confused. "You will be," she titled her head, thoughtful, "The little boxes will make you angry".
"Sorry?" the Doctor turned back to her, "The little what?" he pushed past Amy and Rory, stepping closer to Idris, "Boxes?" he repeated, confused.
Idris began laughing, staring up at the Doctor's face as she grabbed his chin, "Your chin is hilarious!" she giggled, making him blink at her, startled. She let go of his chin and looked across to Rory, her eyes strangely distant, "It means the smell of dust after rain," she told him.
"What does?" Rory asked, looking very confused.
"Petrichor," she replied simply.
"But I didn't ask," he frowned, shaking his head.
"Not yet" she agreed, looking back to the Doctor with a slight smile, "But you will".
"No, no, Idris," Auntie said sternly, hobbling forward and pulling the woman back slightly, "I think you should have a rest".
"Rest, yes," she nodded, all the while the others continued to stare at her, "Good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch," she took a step forward and suddenly, her knees seemed to give way beneath her, and she pitched forward. Rory managed to just catch her before she hit the ground, the Doctor quickly moving to help him to lay the unconscious woman down in a nearby wheelbarrow.
Azezela stumbled slightly and frowned. "Hmm, no magic."
"What no magic? Is that okay?" The Doctor said fussing over to her.
"Not really, I survive off my magic and if I die, I die here." Azezela frowned. "My being here is draining me, but as long as we are not here for too long, like 3 days... I should be fine. As long as I do not use too much of my magic, small things."
The Doctor hugged her close before kissing her. "You have any issues, or you feel bad, please tell me."
Azezela kissed him then, before smiling slightly. "Sure." The Doctor nodded at her.
Then Uncle spoke up. "Is that it?" Uncle questioned, moving closer to peer at Idris, his voice flat and completely unconcerned, "She dead now? So sad".
"No, she's still breathing," Rory informed him, glancing over to them.
Uncle didn't look entirely pleased by the news, almost grimacing slightly, "Uh, Nephew..." he turned and looked across to something behind them, "Take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people".
The Doctor turned around, only to find an Ood standing a short distance behind them, seeming to have appeared while they had all been distracted by Idris's faint, "Oh, hello!" the Doctor greeted brightly, smiling.
Amy turned around, too, only to jump back at the sight with a small yelp of surprise, "Doctor, what is that?" she asked, eyeing the Ood warily.
"It's an Ood. Ood are good," the Doctor added, nodding, "Love an Ood," he walked over towards the alien, smiling brightly at it, "Hello, Ood. Can't you talk?" he asked, frowning slightly when the Ood remained silent, before his eyes travelled down to rest on the orb in its hand, which had a crack running through the plastic, "Oh, I see, it's damaged..." he glanced back up to the Ood, "May I?" the Ood nodded, allowing the Doctor to take the device and unscrew the top of it, "It might just be on the wrong frequency..." he muttered.
"Nephew was broken when he came here," Auntie told them, one hand holding her hip, as if it pained her, "Why, he was half dead. House repaired all of us".
He messed with it a bit before the Doctor put the top of the Ood's communication device back together, making the orb glow. Suddenly, voices filled the air, each one talking over the top of each other, jumbled together, but the Doctor eyes widened as he listened.
"If you are receiving this message, please help me," one of the voices, a man, spoke loudly and clearly over all the rest. "Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey..." the man's voice continued as the Doctor slowly began to spin on the spot, "Tell them that I am still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet..."
All the voices began to bleed into each other, overlapping until it became almost impossible to even make out what any of the voices were saying, save for the fact that it was very clear that they were all desperately begging for help. The Doctor has a small smile on his face.
"What was that?" Rory asked after a moment of silence, looking to the Doctor, "Was that him?" he pointed to Nephew, unsure.
"No," the Doctor shook his head, swallowing, still looking quite stunned himself, "No, it's picking up something else," he glanced to the side. "But that's...that's not possible," he breathed, "That's...that's...Show us," the Doctor advanced on them, forcing the couple to take another nervous step back from him, their eyes staring at him, "Show us!" he demanded, raising his voice slightly.
"Just what you see," Auntie said hurriedly, gesturing to herself and Uncle beside her, "Just the four of us, and the House..." the Doctor frowned slightly at that. "Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?" the woman looked back over to the Ood.
"The house?" The doctor asked confused "what's the house."
She broke into a wide, delighted smile, "House is all around you, my sweets," she informed them, waving her hands around as Uncle hopped on the spot, "You are standing on him," she pointed down towards their feet, and they all looked down at the dirty, slightly muddy ground beneath them, "This is the House. This world," she leaned towards them, looking eager, "Would you like to meet him?"
"Meet him?" Rory exclaimed, his head snapping back up to stare at her.
The Doctor, without looking back to him, held up a finger to silence him, "We'd love to".
Uncle began ushering them to follow him as Auntie continued to grin, "This way," he urged them, "Come, please. Come," he and Auntie turned, starting to lead them away.
Amy stepped closer to the Doctor, "What's wrong?" she asked, noticing his expression that were caught between concern and hopefulness, "What were those voices?"
The Doctor smiled at her. "Time Lords. It's not just the Corsair. Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of Time Lords." He looked rather excited and quiet concerned as what would time lords be doing here.
...
Uncle led them through into one of the old, crashed spaceships and into a large room where, on one side of the room, a grate was attached over the top of a small platform, a strange green light emitting from it, "Come," he gestured them to follow him as the Doctor, Azezela, Amy, and Rory entered the room, "Come, come," he smiled at them as he walked over to the grate, holding out an arm towards it as they trailed behind him, "You can see the House and he can look at you".
He moved closer towards the grate as she stood slightly back, watching as he leaned over it, kneeling on the edge of the platform as the green light lit up his face, "I see...this asteroid is sentient," he commented, nodding.
Auntie smiled slightly, "We walk on his back," she told them, almost seeming excited about the idea as the Doctor straightened, "Breathe out his air, eat his food..."
"Smell its armpits," Amy muttered, earning a quick, amused smile from Azezela from where she leant against the wall.
"And do my will," Auntie and Uncle suddenly said in unison, straightening stiffly, their expressions blank as they spoke in the same refined, man's voice that was quite unlike their own voices. The Doctor looked back to them, alarmed, "You are most welcome, travellers," the voice continued.
"Doctor...that voice..." Amy began, hesitating slightly as she glanced at them, "That's the, um, asteroid talking?"
"So, you're like ah..." The Doctor stepped down from the platform, "Sea urchin," he remarked thoughtfully, glancing down at the dirty floor, "Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that's you?"
"That is correct, Time Lord," the House replied.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows slightly, "Oh, so you have meet other Time Lords before?" He asked wondering why he couldn't sense them. He looked to Azezela who shook her head, making him frown.
"Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break".
So, there are Time Lords here, then?" he said hopefully to the House, looking quickly back up to Uncle and Auntie.
"Not anymore," House told them, "But there have been many TARDISes on my back in days gone by".
"Well, there won't be any more after me," he said, "Last Time Lord," he clapped his hands together, "Last TARDIS," he sighed slightly.
"A pity. Your people were so kind... be here in safety, Doctor," the House went on, the voice growing almost kind and gentle, as Nephew the Ood entered the room, "Rest. Feed, if you will".
Auntie and Uncle blinked as they were released by the House's influence, glancing at each other.
"We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" Rory asked quietly, looking sceptically to the Time Lords.
"Well, it seems like a friendly planet," the Doctor shrugged, pausing, "Literally..." he looked to Auntie and Uncle. "Mind if we poke around a bit?" He asked.
"You can look all you want," Auntie nodded, returning the smile, "Go!" she pointed over towards the doorway they had entered through, "Look," she hobbled over to Amy and cupped her face. The Doctor frowned slightly, noticing that one of her arms looked quite big and masculine compared to her other arm, with large, thick fingers, "House loves you," she said to her as Amy tried to lean back from her.
The Doctor glanced back to Amy and Rory, "Come on then, gang," he clapped, "We're just going to...er...see the sights," he took Azezela's and began to head out of the room, Amy and Rory quickly following.
"Thief!" They heard echoing around them.
Azezela let go of the Doctors hand. "I'm just going to... Yeah." She told him before wondering off before he had the chance to stop her.
She wondered around for a while before she found where Idris had been locked up.
"Hello, Sweetie." Azezela said kindly unlocking to door to her cage.
Idris looked up at her before smiling. "Zela." She stood up. "Is my thief here?" She looked around.
"No but he will come." Azezela Said sitting on a create and gesturing for her to do the same.
Idris looked at her curiously. "Astraea and Eredani are good names."
"Names, sweetie?" Azezela Said looking at her curiously.
"For the twins." Idris Said looking at her stomach making her freeze slightly.
"Ah that's not yet." She eventually said with a small smile. "But I'll have to keep that in mind, Thank you sweetie."
"Do I have you to thank for meeting the Doctor?" Azezela Said with a bright smile.
Idris smiled brightly. "My thief needed someone, and you were so very alone. You could help each other." She looked confused then. "Do fish have fingers?"
"What do you mean." Azezela asked then.
"Something the doctor says, "fish fingers and custard." Idris Said clearly.
"No, they're just sticks made of fish." Azezela Said with a chuckle "not actual fish fingers."
"Ah."
The Doctor ran back through the hallways until they came to a large room, instantly spotting Idris sitting opposite Azezela out of her cell making him freeze.
"Azezela, what are you doing!" He said rushing forwards and pulling her up checking her over as much as he could before hugging her close.
"I was having a nice conversation with Sweetie here." Azezela Said looking back to Idris.
"Sweetie?" The Doctor asked looking very confused. "Never mind." He shook his head moving away from her, towards Idris. "How did you know about the boxes?" the Doctor asked her at once, eyeing her, his voice raised slightly, "You said that they'd make me angry. How did you know?"
Ah," Idris said softly, her eyes closed as a small smile crossed her face, "It's my thief".
"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded
"Hmm," her smile grew wider and her eyes opened, "It's about time".
He began pacing, unable to stand still, "I don't understand," he shook his head, looking back over the woman, "Who are you?"
"Do you not know me?" she frowned, looking slightly upset, but Azezela looked at her sadly. "Just because they put me in here?" she raised her eyebrows at them.
The Doctor stepped back from her, "They said you were dangerous," he told her, before looking back at the Cage, grabbing Azezela's hand.
"Not the cage, stupid," she rolled her eyes at him, standing up, as she pressed her fingertip against the side of her face, "In here," she clarified, smiling up at them again, almost seeming to be amused, "They put me in here. I'm the...oh, what do you call me?" she asked, frowning deeply again, looking slightly frustrated when she couldn't seem to find the right word, "We travel," she said after a moment, "I go..." she breathed out, doing a rather good impression of the TARDISes wheezing.
"The Tardis?" the Doctor asked looking like he was trying not to laugh at the idea, he looked down at Azezela who smirked and nodded.
"Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Yes, that's it. Names are funny," she looked back to them, breaking into another bright smile, "It's me," she peered up at him, with a small smile, "I'm the TARDIS".
"No, you're not!" the Doctor shook his head, turning away from her, "You're a bitey, mad lady," he continued, waving a hand around, "The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box".
"Yes, that's me," she agreed, pointing at him through the bars, "A Type 40 TARDIS," the corner of her mouth twitched, looking at him, "I was already a museum piece when you were young, and the first time you touched my console you said..."
He froze, his back still turned, completely stunned, "I said you were one of the most beautiful things I had ever known," he breathed.
"Then you stole me..." she continued, her smile brightening as she looked back to the Doctor, "And I stole you."
"I borrowed you," the Doctor corrected automatically, wrapping his arm around the Azezela's waist.
"Borrowing implies the intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give you back? You, or Zela now".
"You're the Tardis?" The Doctor asked looking over her clearly
"Yes".
"That she is..." Azezela said smiling up at him happily.
"My TARDIS?" the Doctor exclaimed in disbelief.
"My Doctor," Idris grinned, "Oh!" she gasped, her grin turning into a smirk. Idris stepped forward, walking closer to the Doctor as she looked at him closely, almost seeming to be examining him, "Are all people like this?" she questioned after a moment.
"How do you mean?" Azezela Said looking at her a tad worried.
"So much bigger on the inside," she replied, "I'm..." she moved past them, growing frustrated again as she found it hard to find the right word, "Oh, what is that word?" she frowned, moving away from them as they turned to watch her go, "It's so big, so complicated. It's so sad..." she whispered.
"But why?" the Doctor shook his head, eyeing her, "Why pull the living soul from a TARDIS and pop it in a tiny human head?" Idris turned back around, walking over to them, "What does it want you for?"
"Oh, it doesn't want me," she waved him off.
"How do you know?"
"House eats TARDISes"
"House what?" Azezela Said looking at her confused. "What do you mean?" As she and the Doctor looked at her with wide eyes.
"I don't know. It's something I heard him say," she nodded to the Doctor.
"When?" the Doctor frowned slightly, certain he hadn't said anything like that.
"In the future".
He eyed her, raising his eyebrows, "House eats TARDISes?"
"Oh, there you go," she smiled broadly at him, reaching up to press her thumb against his lips, silencing him as she looked over to Zela, "What are fish fingers?" She grinned
"When do I say that?" he managed to get out around her thumb, blinking at her.
"Any second".
"of course!" the Doctor suddenly cried, his eyes widening in realisation, looking as if he was resisting hitting himself, "I am so slow today! The House, its feeds off the rift energy and TARDISes are just filled to bursting with it, making them a perfect meal for House. And not raw," the Doctor added, speaking just as fast as the brunet had, "All lovely and cooked. Processed food. Mmm..." he smiled slightly dreamily, "Fish fingers".
"But you can't just eat a TARDIS, it would destroy it..." he paused, his eyes widening in realisation, "Unless, unless..."
"Unless you deleted the TARDIS Matrix first," Idris cut in, nodding.
"it deleted you?" Azezela said looking at her worriedly. "You are not going to survive long." She said clearly.
"But House can't just delete a TARDIS consciousness," she went on, speaking very fast, "That would blow a hole in the Universe. So he pulls out the Matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and then it feeds off the remaining Artron energy...oh!" she gasped suddenly, her head snapping over to the Doctor, "You were about to say all that..." she smiled at him making Azezela grin, "I don't suppose you have to now".
"I sent Amy and Rory, in there!" The Doctor began rummaging around in his pockets, "They'll be eaten!" he realised, pulling the phone out of his pocket, "Amy!" he quickly called back the TARDIS phone as he and Azezela took off out of the room, "Amy? Rory?" he called over the phone as they ran off down the corridor, "Get the hell out of there!"
"Doctor..." Amy's voice came over, sounding very worried, "Something's wrong..."
They ran back through the hallways, "Yes, it's House!" the Doctor told her, raising his a little way as they dashed around a corner, "House is after the TARDIS, you've got to get out, right now!"
"We can't. You locked the door, remember?"
They ran out of the ship and back onto the asteroids surface, racing through the junkyard back towards where they had parked the TARDIS, "But I've unlocked it!" the Doctor insisted, frowning.
"You stupid well haven't!" she snapped back, when the sound of the Cloister Bell began ringing out from the other end of the phone, pushing the Doctor to run even faster, Azezela falling behind slightly, "Doctor, I don't like this!" she said, sounding slightly afraid now.
The TARDIS came into view up ahead of them with strange, glowing green lights moving around the time machine, lighting up the windows. The Doctor tried flashing his sonic at the lock as they ran towards it, but still nothing happened. He even tried snapping his fingers, but still nothing worked. The doors remained bolted shut. "Open!" The Doctor demanded hitting the door.
"Doctor?" Amy yelled from within the time machine, her voice sounding very distant and muffled
"OPEN THIS DOOR!" the Doctor banged on the doors
"Amy!" the Doctor cried when the TARDIS began dematerialising. the Doctor backed away from the time machine, coming to stand next to Azezela who was staring feeling useless, staring at it, helplessly as it began to fade, "Rory!" Azezela grabbed the Doctor's arm, holding it tightly as it disappeared completely before their very eyes.
The Doctor quickly held the phone back up between them, recalling the TARDIS, "Amy?" he called urgently over the phone, his eyes wide, "Amy, can you hear me?" there was nothing, just static. He swallowed and flipped the phone closed, looking back to Zela, finding her presence comforting and reassuring, "Okay, right, I don't..." he paused, trying to calm his panicked breathing as Zela made him look at her, "I really don't know what to do," he breathed, smiling weakly, "That's a new feeling".
"Doctor, look at me," Azezela said sternly, her voice firm and determined, "We will get them back, we'll get them and the TARDIS back. Safely". She pressed a kiss to his cheek before smiling sadly at him. Wishing she could use the amount of magic that would be needed to track someone so far away from her.
He nodded, his breathing calming, not taking his eyes off hers, "Yes," he agreed, his own voice growing firmer, "Yes, we'll get them back" with that, he took her hand and they raced back across the junkyard towards where Idris was.