Chapter Three
Lara opened her eyes and struggled to stand up. Everyone else was also coming to and joined Lara in the struggle to stand up. The Doctor recovered the quickest and immediately went around to see if everyone was alright. Nathan held his head due to a splitting headache. He was fine aside from that. Thorin drug himself to Croaker's side to help him. Croaker was in the worst shape due to his age. Thorin took out his wand and casted a healing spell on his mentor.
"Thank you Thorin," Croaker said as he felt the magic soothe his battered body.
Rachael was aroused by K-9's voice.
"Mistress?" the robot dog said to her.
"I'm alright K-9," Rachael groaned.
The Doctor came up next to Racheal and helped her up.
"Easy does it, Racheal," the Doctor said softly.
"Thanks, Doctor," she replied.
Once Rachael was able to move about on her own, the Doctor went over to Nathan.
"My head is killing me, Doctor," Nathan said, still holding his head.
"Here, take this. It should help get rid of the headache," said the Doctor as he pulled out a medicine bottle from his coat pocket.
Nathan the bottle and took one of the blue-colored pills inside. The Doctor walked over to Thorin and Croaker to check up on them.
"Do you need first aid?" the Doctor asked the two.
"I'll be alright, just a few scrapes and bruises. I casted a healing spell on Saul, so he should feel better soon," Thorin replied.
"Doctor, I think you owe us an explanation," Croaker said sternly.
"Certainly. First off, I would like to apologize for lying to you about being from the Polish Ministry of Magic. The reason why I lied to you is because you wouldn't believe me if I gave you the complete truth," the Doctor explained.
"Well, what is the truth then?" Croaker asked as he tried to get up.
"My companions and I were many lightyears from Earth when we were affected by a disturbance caused by the temporal energies of the Time-Turner. We decided to investigate and traced it to the pub where Lara was staying," the Doctor continued.
"So, you are what the Muggles call aliens?" Croaker questioned.
"I am, but Nathan and Rachael are actually from Earth," the Doctor answered.
"Speaking of those two, are they mutants?" Thorin asked.
"Yes, we're mutants. Do you have a problem with that?" Rachael said defensively.
"Easy sis," Nathan told her, still holding his head.
"No, no. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Here lately there has been a lot of talk regarding mutants back at the Ministry," Thorin said trying to smooth out the tension.
"Oh, sorry then. I just get defensive due to the prejudice my family has to put up with back at home," Rachael said, apologizing in return.
"No worries. I'm glad that your abilities allowed us to fight those things," Thorin said, as he rubbed the back of his head.
Croaker turned his attention back to the Doctor.
"So, what were you planning on doing with the Time-Turner once you got here?" Croaker asked.
"Well, after we found out it was the source of the disturbance, I simply wanted to study it and see how it worked. Maybe find a way to render it harmless. When the disturbance occurred, Nathan and I were given a glimpse into the future. It wasn't a pleasant vision," the Doctor explained.
"I see. Doctor, have you considered the possibility that by seeking out the Time-Turner you have made the glimpse of the future into a certainty?" Croaker countered.
"Yes. However, it was the lesser of two evils. If we didn't come to assist you, the Daleks would have managed to steal the Time-Turner," Doctor said bluntly.
Croaker nodded. The Doctor was correct. There would have been little that he or Thorin could do to stop the Daleks. The discussion continued between the Doctor and Croaker, but Lara paid no mind to it. There was something very weird. The air was far too still and there wasn't any noise in the background. The Ministry building and the surrounding area were eerily desolate. Looking down the street toward the horizon, Lara couldn't believe her eyes. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. After putting her glasses back on, Lara took a second look. She wasn't imagining things. The horizon looked like it was fading away. Lara started to get scared. Nathan took notice of Lara's behavior and walked over to her.
"Is everything okay, Lara?" Nathan asked concern filled his voice.
"No. Look," Lara told him and pointed in the direction of the horizon.
Nathan understood now why Lara became so frightened. He immediately called out to the Doctor.
"Doctor, you might want to take a look at this!"
The Doctor went to go see why Nathan called him over. Then, he too noticed the fading horizon in the distance. Now it was clear what the capabilities of the Time-Turner were.
"I think we best find out how we can get back to our timeline and quick," the Doctor said grimly.
Thorin, Croaker, and Rachael also noticed what the others were seeing. The horizon faded away into nothingness, allowing a wall of darkness to slowly take its place. Along with the desolation and lack of activity, this darkness made it clear that they were in trouble.
"K-9, I need you to do an entropy analysis," the Doctor commanded his robotic dog.
"Affirmative Master. Analysis underway," K-9 replied as he extended his probe.
Rachael noticed that there was something else amiss.
"Hey, has anyone else noticed that the Daleks aren't here?" she asked everyone.
Everyone went pale when they noticed the absence of the Daleks that were after them. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and did a quick scan of the area. He didn't detect anything at first. The Doctor studied the exit of the passageway. There wasn't any sign of the Daleks even being there. However, the sonic screwdriver scanning radius was very small. The Doctor put the sonic away and went over to Nathan.
"Nathan, are you able to do a telepathic scan?" the Doctor asked frantically.
"Yeah, my headache is almost gone so I shouldn't have any issues."
Nathan reached out with his mind and scanned the area. There was no one aside from themselves. Then, Nathan sensed the vitriolic hatred of the Daleks' artificial telepathic network.
"Doctor, the Daleks are a few hundred meters down the road from us," Nathan reported.
"Right, let's find somewhere to hideout until we can come up with a plan to get us out of here," the Doctor said sternly.
With that, K-9 discontinued his entropy analysis and Croaker led the way inside the Ministry building. He knew of other secret rooms and hidden corridors that could allow them to hide out for a while. When they entered the building, it was nearly empty. No furniture or anything. Just the bare walls. Still, Croaker was relieved that the corridor leading to the basement level still existed. Everyone followed the Unspeakable through a large iron door into a bunker-like room. Once everyone was inside, they closed the door. Croaker and Thorin casted the most potent lock spells they knew to seal the door. At that point, everyone turned to the Doctor for answers.
"Here's the situation. We aren't in our native timeline. Nor are we in an alternative timeline. This facsimile is in-between timelines. It is highly unstable and the reason why everything is fading away is due to the increase in the rate of entropy. Eventually, this entire facsimile will fade out into the Void," the Doctor informed everyone.
"So the Time-Turner transported us here?" Thorin asked the Doctor.
"Yes. It doesn't just travel through time, it also allows you to travel to other timelines. I suspected this when I examined the Time-Turner with my loupe. The structures were similar to some of the components used by the TARDIS to enter into the Time Vortex," the Doctor answered.
The Doctor turned to Lara.
"Lara, may I see the Time-turner please?" the Doctor requested.
"Sure."
Lara handed over the artifact to the Doctor. While it looked no different than it had, the Doctor noticed burn marks on one side of the Time-Turner. There wasn't any damage, but the marks had to be made by the Daleks' energy weapons.
"Lara, do you know how these burn marks got on here?" the Doctor asked her.
"Yes. When it fell out of Mr. Croaker's pocket I tried to get it, but a blast from the Daleks struck it on the side with the marks. Once I saw that the Time-Turner wasn't damaged, I managed to grab it before anything else could happen to it," said Lara.
"Ah, then that would explain why it activated. Normally, the condensed dark matter is what powers it. The flow of energy goes from the center out. When it passes through the conductor casing, the crystal amplifies the energy output in order to create temporal displacement. However, the energy blast was absorbed by the conductor, but in the wrong direction. Which caused the dark matter to form this facsimile and take us with it," the Doctor lectured.
"Our best bet then would be to redirect the energy in the right direction so it can get us back home," Thorin reasoned aloud.
"Exactly, Thorin. Exactly. There is one issue though. Since the dark matter formed this facsimile, it expended all of its power. Meaning we need to find something else to power the Time-Turner," the Doctor noted.
"How would we be able to go about getting another power source?" Croaker asked.
"I don't know, but we best start coming up with ideas," the Doctor replied.
Meanwhile, the Daleks continued their hunt for the Time-Turner. When the artifact activated, the Daleks were caught up in the displacement field. Due to being on the edge of the field, they were violently displaced into a different spatial position. Once the Daleks got their bearings, their sensors detected the increased entropy rate. Thus making their mission even more crucial as the Time-Turner was their only means of escape from this unstable timeline facsimile. The war-mongering creatures knew that those supposedly inferior beings had it. They needed to be exterminated.
"SENSOR READINGS INCONCLUSIVE! LOCAL AREA ENTROPY LEVELS ARE CAUSING INTERFERENCE!" one of the Daleks announced to the others.
"ALL UNITS WILL RELY ON VISUAL SCANNING! RETURN TO ORIGIN POINT TO BEGIN SEARCH FOR TEMPORAL DEVICE! ALL RESISTANCE MUST BE EXTERMINATED!" the lead Dalek ordered.
"WE OBEY!" chanted the others.
The Dalek squad headed to the Ministry building to begin their search. It was obviously the most logical place to start looking. Despite the raw hate and rage being the only emotions Daleks had, they were a species overly reliant on logic. This had served them well in their conquests until they went to war with the Movellans, a race of sentient androids who also had aspirations of conquest. When the two factions met in battle, it resulted in a stalemate. Due to their overreliance on logic, both species were able to perfectly counter one another's tactics. The stalemate made the Daleks and Movellans seek out any possible means that could give them an edge. The Time-Turner would give the Daleks an advantage by allowing them to change history and completely eliminate the Movellans from even existing. The Daleks had for generations looked into time travel capabilities, but their research was currently in its infancy. Unknown to the Daleks was that magic was required to operate the Time-Turner. Magic had not existed in the Daleks' homeworld of Skaro for thousands of years. The Thousand Year War between the Daleks' ancestors, the Kaleds, and the Thals had devastated Skaro so much that it was permanently cut off from the pockets of quantum flux that allowed magic to exist. However, the Daleks were tenacious and were very good at coercion. If they can't use magic, they'll enslave anyone who could.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was brainstorming with the others. Time was limited, and resources that could be used to power the Time-Turner were practically non-existent since everything was fading away. Plus, they needed something that could take the place of the dark matter. That limited their options further. K-9 had resumed his analysis of the entropy rate and was able to provide the others with data that could help.
"Master, I have completed my analysis of the entropy rate. The facsimile timeline will continue to exist for three hours before complete existence failure," the tin dog announced.
"That's not much to work with," the Doctor said sadly.
"Let's see, perhaps we could use our wands to cast powerful charms on the Time-Turner?" Croaker suggested.
"I'm afraid that it wouldn't be powerful enough, though we'll keep it in mind. If we manage to power it, then you, Thorin, and Lara will have to operate the Time-Turner," the Doctor countered.
"Alright then," Croaker said, feeling a little defeated.
Lara sat in deep thought. Her gaze wandered aimlessly. Until she looked in Rachael's direction.
"Hey! I have an idea!" Lara called out to everyone.
Everyone turned their attention to Lara in anticipation.
"Since the Daleks energy weapons managed to activate the Time-Turner, could Rachael's power do the same?" Lara proposed.
Humorously, everyone turned their attention to Rachael, who wasn't too fond of being in the spotlight.
"If it will work, I'll blast it," Rachael said quietly.
"Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant! Well done Lara, but before we try it I need to consult my dog. K-9?" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly.
"Master?"
"I need you to run a quick scan on the Time-Turner to see if Rachael's optic blasts would work without destroying it," the Doctor told him.
"Affirmative Master. Please present the object for analysis."
Lara held out the Time-Turner for K-9, who proceeded to extend his probe to conduct the scan. His antenna ears twisted vigorously as he performed the scan.
"Scanning complete. Performing cross-referencing of data banks. Specifically observations of Mistress Rachael's energy projection output," K-9 said after retracting his probe. His ears continued to twist.
The seconds passed like eons for the group as they awaited K-9's answer.
"Analysis complete. Mistress Rachael's energy projection will be sufficient to power the Time-Turner. Caution is advised. Mistress must project at low intensity continuously over the course of two and half hours to fully charge the Time-Turner. Higher outputs may cause damage that will lead to catastrophic failure."
Rachael let out a sigh, but she knew it was their only chance. It wasn't that it would be difficult, but it would give her a bad case of eye strain. This is because she had to focus her eyes just right. This was one of those times where she wished she had a visor like her father. A visor would make things easier by controlling the intensity at the push of a button.
"Alright, I'll get started," Rachael said as she took the Time-Turner from Lara.
"You've got this," Lara said to Rachael, reassuring her.
Rachael smirked and tried to get in the most comfortable position, making sure to position her watch where she can see it in order to keep track of it. Then she held up the Time-Turner and fired away. Due to the low intensity, Rachael didn't have to worry about shooting the artifact out of her hand. The optic blast coming from her eyes was more like thin beams of dim red light than the usual intense crimson blasts. It was probably the weakest that Rachael had ever made them. While she charged up the Time-Turner, the Doctor and the others began setting up makeshift defenses. While it wouldn't be much, it would hopefully keep the Daleks at bay in case they were found.
"We don't have much to work with, but I think that if we can reinforce the door it would be a start," the Doctor said as he took out his sonic screwdriver.
The sonic screwdriver buzzed with sparks flying from the metal as the Doctor welded the iron door in place.
"Doctor, we'll cast a ward charm around the room. All three of us casting the ward together at the same time should make it strong enough to help," Croaker said as he pulled out his wand.
"Go ahead, Saul. Nathan, keep a telepathic eye out for the Daleks. K-9 set your sensors at full strength. That should be able to give us an early warning if they get close to us," the Doctor commanded as he finished the welding.
"Sure thing," Nathan said as he sat down in meditation and began to reach out with his mind.
"Affirmative Master, sensors are at full detection capacity. There is interference from the entropy, compensating," K-9 replied.
"Alright. Thorin I know you know how to cast a ward charm. Lara, do you know how?" Croaker asked them.
"I know the incantation, but I forgot what wand movement to use," Lara said.
"Ok, I'll show you right quick," Croaker told her as he took his wand out to show her.
"For the ward charm, you first flick your wand forward, then back with a twist to the left. Time your movements on the syllables of the incantation," Croaker said as he performed the motion.
"Alright, got it," Lara said, and quickly practiced the movement.
"Now all three of us will cast the ward over the entire room at the same time. So, follow my lead," Croaker told Thorin and Lara.
Each of them stood in a triangle in the center of the room facing each other. Each held out their wands at arm's length. Thorin and Lara mimicked Croaker exactly in both movement and incanting:
"Confirma munimenta!" all three chanted.
Each of their wands emitted a bluish-white beam of light that combined in the center space between them. Then it shot out all across the room, where the walls and the door took on a glow of the same bluish-white color. The glow faded, but the charm worked.
"Excellent job," Croaker said to Lara and Thorin.
"Thanks," the two said in unison.
The casting of the ward charm impressed the Doctor. Surprisingly, it wasn't too often that the Doctor witnessed actual magic. However, the wonder and awe would have to wait. The current situation had to take full priority. At least, it seemed that the Daleks had not found them yet, and once Rachael finished charging the Time-Turner they could get back to their timeline. Of course, it had the added benefit of disposing of the Daleks by trapping them in a fading facsimile timeline.
Nathan was in deep meditation with his eyes closed. He was able to sense the Daleks, but it was difficult to detect their exact position. The psionic signature of the creature would wax and wane constantly. It must be the interference from the entropy that K-9 mentioned earlier.
"K-9, can the interference caused by the entropy effect telepathy?" Nathan asked, maintaining his pose.
"Affirmative. The entropy causes a chain reaction of quantum decay events that causes distortions in the paths that detectable signals travel along. This results in lower fidelity feedback for all forms of modulated frequencies," K-9 answered in the most technical fashion imaginable.
"Thanks, K-9, I think," Nathan said the tin dog. He didn't fully understand the details, but K-9's answer confirmed what Nathan thought was going on.
"Any sign of those things, Nathan?" Thorin asked the telepath.
"I sense them, but I can't get a fix on them. There's a lot of interference due to everything fading away. I'll keep at it though," Nathan said, maintaining his concentration.
"How about you K-9? Are you able to detect the Daleks?" asked Thorin, seeing if the robotic dog had better luck than Nathan.
"Compensation for interference is only partially successful. The margin of error is forty-seven percent for any estimate of the Daleks' position. Current estimation places the Daleks between 10 and 100 meters away from our location," K-9 answered.
Thorin simply shook his head. To him, it seemed that they would have a better chance of knowing where the Daleks are by putting their ears to the door. Still, Thorin knew that Nathan and K-9 were doing their best. That was all that could be expected in a situation like this. Thorin next made his way to the Doctor, who was digging around in his pockets looking for something.
"Nathan and K-9 are having trouble tracking the Daleks, do you think we will be able to detect them in time if they come near us?" Thorin asked, a little worried.
"To be honest, it's hard to say for sure. However, that same interference is also making it hard for the Daleks to detect us. That should slow them down in finding us," the Doctor told him
Then, the Doctor found what he was looking for in his pockets. Which was a green yo-yo, and he set about winding up the string. Thorin thought it was remarkable how the Doctor could maintain being aloof and unfazed by the danger present at the moment. Either the strange alien was really good at hiding his fear and worries, or he was completely fearless.
With the work done on the makeshift defenses, it was simply a matter of waiting for Rachael to finish charging the Time-Turner. Or for the Daleks to show up and attack them. This created nerve-wracking boredom in the atmosphere in the room. Each one of them tried to pass the time in their own individual ways. Which helped in keeping the dread of being attacked off their minds too. The Doctor was doing yo-yo tricks to pass the time. It seemed that each trick took three or four attempts before the Doctor managed to do it correctly. Croaker sat on the floor with his back against a wall, taking a light nap. The old man wasn't a spring chicken anymore, so he had to rest up. Thorin paced about slowly while staring off into space. He seemed to be having the most trouble in keeping his mind off of the Daleks, but he kept silent so he wouldn't begin to panic. Rachael kept her focus on the Time-Turner, managing to keep herself from blinking while charging it, which was somewhat easy to do when she used her powers. The optic blasts coming out of Rachael's eyes kept them open unless she closed them.
Then there was Lara. Now that things were quiet for the moment, Lara began to think about the day's events. Sure it had been terrifyingly dangerous and full of intrigue. Which made the whole ordeal the most exciting adventure Lara had ever been on. It opened her mind to the many possibilities that could out there. Lara was even considering asking the Doctor if she could join him in his travels if this situation ended well for everyone here. However, she started to feel guilty though. Lara thought that had she not found the Time-Turner, none of this would have happened. The Daleks wouldn't have attacked the Ministry, and they all wouldn't be in danger of fading into nothingness. Lara's eyes began to water up, and tears ran down her cheeks. Lara held her head low as the guilt began to consume her. Despite his characteristic aloofness, the Doctor was the first to notice Lara was crying. He walked over to her as he attempted to do a one-handed star trick with his yo-yo.
"Why so glum? Hmm," the Doctor asked her as he sat down next to her, putting away the yo-yo.
Lara, with teary eyes, looked up at the Doctor. He looked very concerned about her. This allowed Lara to open up to the Doctor.
"This is all my fault. I found the Time-Turner. Finding it caused Daleks to attack us and it brought us here to a timeline that's falling apart," Lara said sadly.
"There was no way you could have known that this would happen. You did the right thing in trying to keep the Time-Turner out of the wrong hands. Plus, you're also ignoring the positive things that have happened because you found it," the Doctor said warmly.
He then pulled out his bag of jelly babies and offered to share them with Lara.
"Positive things?" Lara asked as she took one of the sweets from the Doctor.
"Yes. You got to meet new friends like myself, Rachael, and Nathan. Especially Nathan. You reunited with an old friend you hadn't seen in a while. You quickly learned how to properly cast a ward spell. Most importantly, you also gave us the solution that will get us back to our timeline," the Doctor said with a grin after eating a jelly baby.
Lara didn't really think of these things, but the Doctor was right. All of those good things came about as a result of finding the Time-Turner, and she had some far kept it away from the Daleks. However, one of these good things stood out once Lara fully grasped it.
"What are you getting at with that 'especially Nathan' part?" Lara said quietly, with a little red spreading across her cheeks.
"As they say on Earth, there's nothing new under the sun," the Doctor said with a laugh.
Lara started to giggle but wanted to change the subject quickly. It was true that she was taking a liking to Nathan, but Lara felt a little too embarrassed to talk about her growing crush. Still, the Doctor's words helped. She was feeling a little better now. The Doctor patted Lara on the back when he saw her tears dry up.
"In all things, there's always some good. So there's no need to beat yourself up," the Doctor told her.
"Thank you, Doctor. There's still a little bit of guilt, I am feeling better mostly," Lara said with a small smile.
"Good, good," the Doctor replied.
Two and a quarter hours had passed, and the space outside the Ministry building had nearly faded completely away. Only the building and surrounding courtyard remained. It was clear to the Daleks that time was running out. The facsimile was only going to last for another forty-five minutes before fading away completely. The Daleks had been searching the building as thoroughly as possible with visual scanning. Their other sensors couldn't compensate for the interference, thus keeping them from looking more effectively. Recognizing this, the lead Dalek decided on a new and much more destructive course of action.
"ALL UNITS, FIRE UPON THE WALLS. WE WILL INCINERATE THE STRUCTURE!" commanded the lead Dalek.
"WE OBEY!" acknowledged the other Daleks.
They all focused on the wall closest to them and shot concentrated beams from their energy guns. The neon blue beams of energy slammed into the wall, causing it to instantly catch fire. It didn't take long for the fire to grow into a raging hellstorm. This newly created danger did nothing to the Daleks. Their armor made them impervious to the heat and smoke. Thus, the evil creatures continued to light more fires throughout the building. If the Daleks couldn't find those pathetic lifeforms, then the fires would draw them out. Then the Daleks would exterminate them and acquire the Time-Turner from their charred husks. As the flames razed the building, the reddish-orange glow of the fire reflected brightly off of the metallic shells of the Daleks. It was the most hellishly appropriate aesthetic for the passionately burning hate the Daleks lived for. The flames' effects wouldn't go unnoticed for long. Within a few minutes, the group in hiding started to feel the heat of the burning building.
"Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?" Thorin asked, removing his suit jacket and tie.
"No, it's getting rather warm. I'm sweating bullets over here," Croaker said as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
Soon everyone, except the Doctor and K-9, was burning up. The bunker-like room was becoming like an oven and it certainly added to their worries of being found by the Daleks. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to put up with it for long. Rachael only had to charge the Time-Turner for ten more minutes. Her eyes were strained and she had a creak in her neck. Now sweat was pouring down Rachael's forehead. Still, she carried on charging. Soon, they would be getting the hell out of this facsimile. Yet, the heat seemed to only get worse.
Suddenly, Nathan's eyes snapped open and he jumped out of his meditative pose. He realized what was causing the heat. The interference from the entropy reduced his ability to sense anything telepathically. However, Nathan sensed for a brief moment a heightened emotional state of hate-filled thoughts. The Daleks' plans had been revealed.
"Doctor, the Daleks are in the building and they're burning it down so they can draw us out" Nathan called out as he got to his feet, but got cut off by the Doctor.
"That's typical Dalek tactics for you," said the Doctor angrily.
By this point, there was little that could be done now. The fire raged outside the room, and it burned away the wall that hid the iron door, the last line of defense. The Daleks turned their attention to it as soon as it was revealed through the smoke.
"THE HUMANS ARE IN THAT CONCEALED ROOM! CONCENTRATE FIRE ON THE ENTRANCE! EXTERMINATE THE HUMANS!" ordered the lead Dalek.
In unison, the Daleks fired their weapons at the iron door. The rapid burst of the combined energy blasts caused a number of sparks and electrical arcing when they came into contact with the ward. Unlike the individual wards used by the Aurors earlier, Coraker's idea of all three of the magic-users casting the ward together made it just strong enough to withstand the Daleks' fire. Sadly, the ward was weakening quickly. Within seconds, the ward was shattered. This left only the welded iron door. Inside, everyone was getting very anxious as flashes of blue light indicated the ward had failed. There was also the Daleks chanting "EXTERMINATE" right outside the door. The iron door began to glow bright orange as the Daleks used their weapons to melt the door. This added to already insufferable heat. Yet, all was not lost. Rachael needed only a couple more minutes to finish charging the Time-Turner. However, the Daleks had practically melted through the door before she could finish. In a moment of outstanding courage, Lara leaped into action before anyone else could react.
"Aguamenti maximus!" shouted Lara as she casted the most powerful form of the Water-Making Spell.
The tip of her wand created an eruption of water that took the shape of a small tsunami wave. The wave of water had the force of a tsunami wave too as it blasted through what remained of the door like a spray of a firehouse going through a piece of tissue paper. The force of water also slammed into the Daleks with enough force to topple them over and send them flying. Lara's tentacle-shaped wand was extremely effective at casting water-based spells thanks to its kraken-beak core. Immediately after Lara dealt with the Daleks, Nathan ran up to her and congratulated her.
"That was brilliant Lara!"
Lara was at a loss for words but nodded with a huge smile. She also had a faint blush too. There was no time to linger though as Rachael had completed charging the Time-Turner.
"Doctor, Mr. Croaker. I'm done charging it," Rachael said as she rubbed her eyes. She handed the Time-Turner to Croaker so he could operate it.
"Excellent! Let's get out of here," the Doctor proclaimed.
"Alright everyone, stand close to me," said Croaker as he prepared to use the artifact.
"Saul, if possible, as we return to our native timeline, try to send us ten minutes before the Daleks' attack," urged the Doctor.
Croaker was not entirely sure why the Doctor wanted him to send them back ten minutes into the past of their native timeline, but he trusted the Doctor now so he would try his best to do so. The Time-Turner activated. It began to heat up and glow yellow as it did last time. The hourglass-shaped conductor began to spin at high speed accompanied by its high-pitched whine. Croaker concentrated his focus on magically controlling the Time-Turner. He wasn't sure how this Time-Turner operated, but it seemed like the artifact responded to his thoughts as he concentrated. Everyone huddled around Croaker as the space around them started to fade away. With another flash of yellow light, the group managed to get out just in time.
The Doctor and Croaker were the first to regain consciousness. Lara, Nathan, Rachael, and Thorin were still out cold. Both of them took stock of where they were at. It was Croaker's office, and it appeared as it did before the Daleks attacked. However, the sunlight coming from the window suggested it was sometime in the morning. That was a promising sign that the Doctor's idea of going back ten minutes before the Daleks' attack worked. The Doctor saw Croaker struggling to get up because his hands were injured. The Doctor went over to help him.
"There we go, Saul," the Doctor said after getting the old man on his feet.
"Thank you, Doctor," Croaker said.
"I wouldn't thank me just yet, Saul. Let me examine your hands," the Doctor with a little bit of humor.
Croaker let the Doctor examine his hands. The palms and fingertips on both hands had second-degree burns. There were some newly formed blisters in some spots. The burns were serious, but considering all that had happened, the injuries could have been much worse. The Doctor began to dig into his pockets for the first aid kit he carried.
"My hands got burned from holding the Time-Turner. A healing spell will take care of them," Croaker informed the Doctor,
"Until someone can perform a healing spell on you, these first aid supplies I have should help," the Doctor said as he found the small first aid kit in his left coat pocket.
"Fair enough," Croaker said. His mind was still in a daze, so it was taking Croaker a moment to get his bearings.
"Looks like we don't have to worry about the Time-Turner anymore," the Doctor said as he started to clean Croaker's burns with antiseptic wipes.
The alcohol in the wipes stung, making Croaker flinch a couple of times.
"Sorry about that, but I have to clean them to prevent infection," the Doctor apologized.
"No worries, Doctor. So, what happened to the Time-Turner if we don't have to worry about it?" Croaker asked, trying very hard not to flinch as the Doctor continued cleaning the burns.
"It no longer exists," the Doctor said with a grin and finished cleaning the Croaker's burns.
"Probably for the best," Croaker replied.
The Doctor applied antibiotic cream to the burns with a swab While he applied the cream, Croaker continued his line of questioning.
"So, where are our past selves?" Croaker asked in a concerned tone.
Croaker was concerned because encountering past versions of oneself was something that needed to be avoided when traveling backward in time. If someone did encounter themselves in the past, it could cause so much change to the timeline's history, that it could result in a runaway chain reaction of temporal instability. Luckily, the Doctor was able to put him at ease.
"The Time-Turner uprooted our entire personal timelines when it took us to the facsimile. While we were there, we essentially no longer existed in our native timeline. Upon our return, our personal timelines were put back in place as they were. Luckily, our return also gave the timeline a reset since the Daleks didn't show up" the Doctor explained as he began to wrap Croaker's hand with rolls of gauze.
"Why didn't they show up?" Croaker asked, curious.
"The Daleks don't have a reason to come here now that Time-Turner no longer exists. Remember how I said that while we were in the facsimile, we basically no longer existed in our native timeline?" the Doctor asked as he finished treating Croaker's burns.
"Yes, I'm guessing the same was true for the Time-Turner." Croaker answered.
"Precisely, except in one detail. When returning back from an alternative timeline, the Time-Turner would use the point it departed from in the initial timeline as the point to reestablish its own personal timeline. By going into our native timeline before the Time-Turner took us to the facsimile, it wasn't able to reestablish its past, present, or future. Thus erasing the Time-Turner from ever existing in the first place," continued the Doctor as he put away his first aid kit.
"Why didn't the same happen to our personal timelines?" questioned Croaker.
"I'm not entirely sure. Based on my observations of the Time-Turner, I think it may have had some sort of safety mechanism that maintained our personal timelines while in transit. Perhaps a sort of fluid stasis that allowed the personal passage of time to flow so it didn't have to be tied to the Time-Turner's timeline," speculated the Doctor.
"I guess we'll never know since the Time-Turner no longer exists," Croaker lamented.
"It's a shame to leave mysteries unsolved. However, lost knowledge can always be rediscovered," the Doctor reassured Croaker.
Croaker simply nodded.
The Doctor suddenly jumped up in a frenzy. A spark of genius struck him and in the process disrupted the peaceful silence in the room. Croaker nearly had a heart attack when the Doctor did this.
"Doctor, what's wrong?!" the old man said, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
"There is one mystery I have solved!" the Doctor proudly announced.
"That being?" Croaker hesitantly asked.
"The disturbance and the vision of the future were created the moment we were transported to the facsimile," the Doctor's voice boomed followed by a manic laugh.
Croaker remained quiet, having nothing to add. The old man did notice the consequence of the Doctor's loud announcement. It worked as a powerful wake-up call.
The others began to wake up as groans echoed their way through the office. The only one to show any signs of life at first was ironically the non-living tin dog.
"Hibernation mode deactivated. Resuming normal functions. Greetings Master" greeted K-9.
"Did the trip render you offline K-9?" the Doctor asked.
"Negative Master. I remained operational throughout the entire journey back to our native timeline. When we arrived at our present location the previous night, I went into hibernation mode to conserve my energy reserves. I will need recharging once we return to the TARDIS."
The Doctor simply nodded and saw that Nathan was up and about. The poor teen was stiff from being unconscious on the office floor all night.
"Wow. It's already morning?" Nathan said as he squinted his eyes due to the daylight shining through the window.
"Yes. Hopefully, it's the start of a better day," the Doctor replied.
That's when Rachael made a rather loud groan.
"Argh!"
The redhead had a migraine that could kill an elephant. She still had the eye strain caused by charging the Time-Turner, and her neck and back were so stiff it seemed like they were in a cast. It was bad enough that Rachael wasn't a morning person, to begin with. All these physical ailments just amplified the grumpiness. Everyone wisely decided to give Rachael some space for now. No one wanted optic blasts to be shot at them.
Thorin got up slowly and stepped out to go to the restroom down the hall. He was about to burst, so he wasted no time in getting there.
Lara was the last one to finally wake up. Surprisingly, she wasn't stiff and felt well-rested. She went over to the desk to see what Croaker and the Doctor were up to. On the way there, Lara almost bumped into a staggering Rachael. Lara was about to apologize but got cut by could only be described as a hiss. Lara just quickly went around the redheaded grump.
"Morning Doctor, morning Saul," Lara said as she took the last chair.
"Good morning. It seems that you were the only one that managed to get well-rested," said the Doctor happily.
"I guess so. I'm better than the viper over there," Lara whispered, pointing at Rachael.
"Don't let her hiss trouble you, Rachael isn't a morning person, and the eye strain she got yesterday has probably worsened. Once she wakes up a bit more, I'll see about getting her something to relieve the pain," said the Doctor quietly, so that the 'viper' wouldn't hear him talking about her.
Lara looked over at Croaker and saw his bandaged hands.
"Saul, what happened to your hands?" she asked, worried.
"The Time-Turner burned my hands. No worries, the Doctor got the burns cleaned up and bandaged. It should be fine until I go by the infirmary to get them healed," reassured Croaker.
"Speaking of the Time-Turner. I'm guessing since we're back in the office and it doesn't look like a battlefield, that your idea worked, Doctor?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, it worked out perfectly," the Doctor said with a little pride and a toothy smile.
A couple of hours later, everyone was able to get freshened up and had a light breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron. Yesterday's adventure was still fresh on everyone's minds, but they celebrated their triumph over the Daleks. Once breakfast was finished, it was time for the Doctor and his companions to say goodbye and depart for New York. The TARDIS should have repaired itself fully by now. So, they headed toward the alley where the TARDIS landed. Once there, farewells were given.
"Goodbye Doctor, I hope that we ever meet again it will be under much better circumstances," Croaker said as he shook the Doctor's hand with his fully healed.
"The same to you. Perhaps, we could dabble in a few time experiments," the Doctor replied.
"Or maybe have a discussion over tea time," Croaker countered humorously. He then started on his way back to the Ministry of Magic.
Thorin bid the travelers a quick farewell, and then he followed Croaker back to work.
The Doctor popped inside the TARDIS to get K-9 hooked up to his recharge station. The twins remained outside. Nathan and Rachael noticed that Lara was absent. She was with them a few minutes ago but left when no one was looking. They didn't want to leave without telling her goodbye. Nathan in particular wanted to see her one time before heading out. Then, the twins heard Lara called out to them, running with what looked like a heavy backpack.
"Wait! I need to ask the Doctor something before you all leave!" Lara yelled.
"I'll tell the Doctor to hold up, so you can give your crush a goodbye kiss, loverboy," Rachael said teasingly to Nathan.
Nathan just shrugged his sister's teasing off and went over to Lara to see if she needed some help with that pack. He had a fairly good idea of what Lara wanted to ask the Doctor, and he didn't have to read Lara's mind either. When Nathan got to her, Lara was panting hard and had to stop running.
"Need some help with that?" Nathan asked, pointing to the backpack.
"Y-yes-huff-p-please- huff," Lara said, barely able to speak.
Nathan took her bag and they walked back to the TARDIS, where the Doctor stood waiting for them.
"I would say goodbye Lara, but Rachael said you wanted to ask me something," the Doctor asked, with a slightly annoyed tone. He didn't like making goodbyes any longer than necessary.
Lara, catching her breath, managed to get her question out.
"Doctor, can I travel with you?"
Upon hearing the request, the Doctor let go of his slight annoyance, and with his trademark toothy smile gave his answer.
"Of course you can come along! The more the merrier!"
The Doctor went back inside the TARDIS. Lara went in next without any hesitation. Nathan with the backpack in tow entered last. Upon seeing the control room, Lara said that famous phrase:
"Wow. It's bigger on the inside!"
The wooden doors closed and the light on top of the TARDIS began to flash.
VROOMPH!
VROOMPH!
VROOMPH!
With that, the TARDIS dematerialized and disappeared from sight en route to the Xavier Institute in New York.
THE END