Oh my gosh… first of all I feel like a complete liar. But I swear I thought I'd be able to get this chapter out sooner than I had. The only explanation I have for the tardiness is work, school and… personal problems. But I have learned my lesson. Don't make promises you're not sure you can keep.
Anyhoo, here is the long awaited chapter 4 of Pathways of Time!
Chapter 4: The Quiet Undead. (Part 2)
"Oh my there's rather a lot of them isn't there?" Charles worried.
That worry turned for the worse as the Gelth around Gwyneth changed to a far more menacing look, turned red before it spoke, it's once kind voice gone. "The Gelth will come through in force."
"You said that you were few in number!" Dickens said, angrily.
"A few billion! And all of us in need of corpses!" Just as they said that the dead bodies in the room were possessed by the Gelth.
Mr. Sneed thought to speak to his assistant. "Now, Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your Master. Stop dabbling and leave these things alone, I beg of you."
"You idiot she can't hear you!" Said Magician as she whipped out a blaster from inside her coat, "Alright you blowhards! Seems like you forgot who you're dealing with!" Then she shot Gwyneth with a blue wave of energy that caused her to collapse to the floor as the flow of Gelth slowed and stopped, leaving hundreds floating above her, "Tinker! Doctor!"
The Gelth inhabiting Gwyneth roared in anger as the bridge collapsed. "How dare you! Who are you to get in our way!" It screeched. Then by way of silent command the Gelth started attacking them. A possessed body got hold of Mr. Sneed, killing and taking over him immediately.
"I'm the Magician you ruddy gaseous neophytes!" Magician said, answering the Gelths question.
"I think it's gone a little bit wrong." The Doctor said.
"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come! March with us." The now-possessed Mr. Sneed spoke.
"Oh glory!"
"Oh as if he wasn't creepy enough already." Said a rather nervous Tink.
The Magician waved to Gwyneth, "What are you waiting for an invitation! Get her!" She shouted blasting red lasers at the cloud of ghosts
Acting quickly Rose dove in and grabbed Gwyneth before running to the door with the Doctor and others behind her, out of reach of the possessed bodies.
"Mage! You got a plan?" Tink shouted as they ran.
"Well to be honest, plan is a bit strong!" She responded, turning back and firing more shots.
"Well how about a thing?" He joked loudly, with a nervous grin.
"I'm not the ruddy Ghostbusters!" She shouted, her cockney accent growing stronger in the stress of the moment, "Give me a break!" She sassed, pulling out a smaller gun with a large coil equipped, and firing a shot back into the Gelth. From the coil arced a bolt of electricity, disrupting the gaseous fields of the nearest ones.
Tink heaved a sigh, then took another startled look back when Mage cried out in pain. The Gelth apparently had some offensive capabilities. Mage looked like she had been injured at the shoulder. It seemed like the Gelth had acidic properties.
"Mage!" He shouted. He grabbed her free hand and launched them both out of the house, closing the door behind them.
Magician, still smoking, quickly shook off her coat and threw it on the ground. As it bubbled and sizzled she groaned. "And I quite liked that coat."
"Ok! So we're out now. Doctor, what's the plan?" Rose asked.
The Doctor turned to answer but the Gelth didn't give them a break. Pouring out the cracks, the spirits loomed hostiley over the group before screeching. "Failing atmosphere hostile!" And was sucked into a nearby street lamp.
"I've got it!" The Doctor shouted happily. "The Gelth are gaseous creatures. If we could somehow use that against them, it would be like drawing poison from a wound!"
"Finally worked that out have you? They're gas, lovely." Grunted Mage, "Bless."
"Magician? Are you alright?" Rose asked, before she spotted blood dripping off her hand. "Doctor, look she's hurt!"
"I'm fine, help Gwyneth." Said the Magician, trying to cover up the burns that were still eating away at a large percentage of her left arm, leg, and lower back.
"I'll help both of you if I can!" She said as she turned to the Doctor. "Doctor I think we should split up. We can't be running around, fighting aliens while protecting both Magician and Gwyneth."
Before Mage could get all huffy about how she didn't need protection the Doctor broke in with sorry news. "I'm afraid Gwyneth won't be needing protection. She's dead."
That news gave everyone a moment of pause. Though Mage was the first to react. "What? What do you mean she's dead?" The distress on her face was easy to see.
The Doctor looked at her with a stonelike face. "I mean she's dead Magician."
"No! I. But I-I thought I!" She never finished her statement.
The Doctor was first to move. He quickly turned to Mage's wounds. All the while being mindful of her fragile mindstate.
He probed the injury, when she only reacted with a whimper of pain he said. "Rose is right. This isn't something you can just walk off. I may not like you all that much but that doesn't mean I want you dead." Under his breath he said, in a voice full of pain. "There's too few of us left to be taking unnecessary risks."
"Oh sure, 'specially since I just up and k-killed one of us." She scoffed, though her attitude now felt completely forced.
The Doctor gave her a look. "You didn't kill her Mage. She was probably dead as soon as she stepped under the ark." He said before he started treatment of her wounds.
While he did that Rose, who by this point looked rather emotional herself, spoke up. "Alright now that we've got that settled… where do we even go?"
"I've got a place. Not far, we can take the coach, it's out of the way. I hate getting blood on the carpets but we can regroup there."
Tink shook his head at the idea. "No Rose was right, we do need to split up. So Rose, you take Mage and Gwyneth to her place. And me, Doctor and Charles will deal with the Gelth."
"Yeah right," Mage said with a grimace, "You three together? Ha! You'll never make it 5 minutes. And I don't much like the idea of three more bodies-ouch!" She griped as the Doctor probed her thigh unusually hard.
"Yeah you're not going anywhere but to the safe house." He said seriously.
"Oh shut up, I'm not letting you three go alone." She grouched, "Rose you can't be ok with this."
Rose made an uncomfortable grunt. "Normally I wouldn't be but you can hardly move at the moment. And Tinker at least seems to have a plan."
"Fine let's go." She said curtly, "Trust old tinker bell."
Tink walked over to Magician and helped her up. "Look you may not like this Mage but it's for the best. Not just for you but also for Rose." He said quietly.
"Oh brilliant! Send her off with the injured killer." She said in a low voice, bitter and angry.
"Look we don't know what's going to happen now. This has gone horribly different in comparison to the show." He said, stating out the obvious.
"Yeah no kidding Sherlock!" She hissed at Tink which made him wince at his own words. However before he could fix what he said she snapped at him again. "Alright fine I see how it is."
In a louder voice she spoke to Rose. "Let's get going Rose. The boys have got a little rescue plan to put into action."
After they all got into their coach and rode away, the Doctor turned to Tink. "Alright then Tinky. What's your plan."
While he desperately wanted to think about anything else Tink couldn't stop thinking about Gwyneth. He had gotten his hopes up when they managed to get her out.
But in the end his efforts appeared to be worthless. Mr. Sneed, Gwyneth had died and now there were several more people in danger.
Had his being here caused all of this unneeded pain and suffering. If that was true then maybe it would be best if..
"Tinker!" The Doctor yelled which made Tink flinch. Halfway fearful that his thoughts had betrayed him. If the Doctor knew…
When the Doctor saw Tink's reaction he softened his voice. "Tink I know you're in shock but we don't have time right now. Your plan?"
Tink took in a shaky breath before he hesitantly explained. "Well you said it b-before Doc. The aliens are gaseous, so if uhh… if we use gas as a weapon should finish them off. And well… we got all the gas we could ever need right in these street lamps. By putting out the flames and t-turning up the gas we should be able to, if not outright kill them, then trap them all in one place."
"By George that's genius!" Dickens said.
Even the Doctor seemed impressed. "And how do you hope to do that?"
Tink had to think there. "Well, if we just go around the area of the coroner's place we turn all the lamps off and on again that should do the trick right?"
He nodded and after a quick explanation they agreed on the plan to corral the Gelth using the street lamps around the area. Then Charles, Tinker, and the Doctor climbed into Dickens' coach. Since the driver wasn't there Tinker happily took the reins.
"Do you even know how to drive this?" The Doctor asked.
The younger Time Lord turned back to him and chuckled, having regained some confidence… however false it felt. "I know how to ride a horse, and I've seen Mage drive her coach once already. How hard can it be?"
Before the Doctor or Charles could respond to that. Tink already started them off hurriedly as Charles shouted the directions along the way.
"I'm loving this!" He shouted more than once. The Gelth flew around trying to mess them up was a bit disconcerting but he didn't let that ruin his fun. It made things seem a bit less bleak.
-After-
'Ok here we go. Hopefully this 'plan' of mine actually works. I can't believe this episode got so screwed up.' He thought to himself as he raced through the streets towards the street lamps. All they had to do was turn up the gas.
"Well Tinky what's first?" Asked the Doctor expectantly.0
A little put on the spot Tink felt surprised that the Doctor was letting him hold the reins here. 'He usually wouldn't trust anyone to handle one of these situations…' he thought 'why would he just up and put me in charge.'
"Um… ok just like we planned, turn up the gas and start driving the creatures away." Tink said in his best confident voice.
"Unorthodox but ludicrously effective." Charles said, "How old are you? Young, yet with such forethought."
"Oh me? I'm only 21." Tinker responded with an uneasy smile. 'Though it's not like I actually came up with this. Mainly just based it off your idea.' He thought to himself.
"Well done Tinker Bell!" The Doctor said cheerfully with a smug little smirk as the three of them shut down each of the street lamps before moving on to the next block. After they did that they pulled up outside the home to check on the situation.
"My word." Dickens remarked upon the sight of the Gelth possessed beings all screaming before being forcibly removed from the victims bodies and sailing away from them.
"Looks like they're going towards the morgue." The Doctor deducted.
"But why would they go there?" Tinker asked curiously. "I mean it's not like it could be any better there."
"Maybe they're stronger there. Close to the rift." The Doctor theorized.
"Sooo now what? Do we just blow them up or…"
"We talk to them. One more time. Give them another chance to… to let us help them." The Doctor insisted.
"Doctor… look at what they've done so far! I think they're beyond a second chance." Tinker told him, indignantly.
"I have to try!" The Doctor shouted back angrily. Before he hesitated and said softly. "I… can't stand to see another genicide. Not if I can do something about it."
"Well then maybe we should go back and get the girls… preferably before we all die of gas inhalation." Tinker said with a cough.
-Later-
"Heeya!" Tink shouted as he, the Doctor and Dickens rode through the streets of Cardiff. "Are you sure you know where we're going Charles?" He asked Dickens.
"Of course I'm sure!" Dickens said, affronted. "There are not many in Cardiff with Miss Watson's capabilities! Are you sure we could not possibly go slightly slower?" He asked in a worried tone.
"Uhh… honestly? I'm not. This is the only experience I've had in a horse drawn carriage. I guess I'm like a sponge." Tink joked
"I'm sorry? In what way do you soak up liquids?"
"You know, for one of the greatest literary minds of the century, you really need to work on your figures of speech." The Doctor sighed.
"Ahh don't be too hard on him Doctor. He's only british. And it's probably a couple hundred years before the 'figure of speech', 'sponge' was even used." Tink defended the writer.
"Well he had the context," he shrugged, "he could've figured it out."
Before either Tink or Dickens could speak again the younger Time Lord spotted a large mansion. "You know Dick I know you told me we were going to a mansion but wow." He marveled.
"Yes, that truly is quite a construct."
"Right posh nuisance I'd say." The Doctor scoffed, "it's an abuse of time travel."
"Right." Tinker said. 'Not everyone has their own portable home there Doc.' He thought to himself. "One slight problem though."
"And that is?"
"How do you stop again? I've never gone this fast before." He asked with a hidden smile.
"WHAT?!" The other two yelled.
-With Mage and Rose-
Mage quickly finished treating her wounds and burned off excess time by showing off the mansion to Rose. They had just wandered out of the tesla coil room Mage had built when they heard the sound of a coach outside. "Well it sounds like the 'boys are back in town'." Mage smiled as she looked to Rose who didn't respond. "What nothing? That one was a classic in your time Rose you've no excuse. Now, I wonder what's been keeping them."
When they got outside they saw Tink had on a big smile while the other two men looked like they had seen death itself. But while Rose looked worried for them Mage knew exactly what had happened and couldn't help but tease the Doctor.
"All those trips in the TARDIS and it's Tinker's bad driving that gets you green in the gills?" She turned up to Tink with a smile, "Must've had 'em reeling back there! What took ya so long? Did you stop for drive through?"
When he looked over to Tink, the Doctor shuddered. "It was like riding with death."
"Agreed. And while I am grateful for getting us over here post haste, Mr. Tinker, I hope you take no offence in my wish that anyone else but you drive from henceforth." Dickens said, whitefaced from the experience.
Tink looked crestfallen. "Aww but it was fun wasn't it? I had fun. Especially since it was my first time ever. I can cross that off my bucket list."
"Bucket list?" Dickens asked. No one bothered to explain.
Rose looked at the younger timelord curiously. "You have 'driving a coach' as something on your bucket list?"
He moved in closer as though he were about to divulge a big secret Tink whispered. "When you can travel through all time and space that kind of widens the things that you can do. Don't you agree?" He asked with a smile.
The moment was interrupted by Mage. "So now that everyone's together again I assume you three have some semblance of a plan?
Everyone looked at the Doctor who looked at Tink. "It's your plan." Was all he said which seemed to surprise Mage.
Though Tink was a bit surprised at being put on the spot like that he recovered quickly. "Umm right. The ghosts are vulnerable to gas. And since they were spreading out, the Doctor, Dickie, and I turned up the street lamp's gas. Doing that trapped them in a confined space. Or more accurately it trapped them back where they came through."
Mage looked somewhat pleased. "You trapped them back in the bridge."
Tink nodded. "Now the Doctor wants to give them one last chance…"
"Figures." Mage interrupted before pointing out. "But what about you Tink? After all he said this is your plan."
Tink knew what Mage was saying. They knew from the show what was going to happen. There was no cooperating or dealing with them from the get go. They would have to go. Only they would never go silently. And even though the idea terrified him Tink knew what he had to do.
"They've hurt too many people. But I still want to try and end this peacefully. And I am going alone." He said definitively.
He spoke again quickly to cut off any objections. "Bringing anyone else along not only increases the risk of the ghosts becoming more hostile but also of other complications since the ghosts might very well be able to possess the living as well as the dead."
Then he stared at Mage directly and said. "This is the best for everyone." He hoped she would get the intended message.
Judging by her stern and disapproving stare back she knew very well what his plan was. And did not approve of it.
"But if the ghosts can possess the living what's to stop them from merely possessing you?" Rose asked.
Tink winced. He had hoped to address that particular subject alone with Mage. "Well I was… hoping to talk to Mage about a solution to that." When she heard that Mage raised an eyebrow. "I need to fashion a dead man's device."
"Like heck! What is it with men and death traps!" She groaned, "I blame you!" Mage said as she pointed to the Doctor. "You and your chances… ugh" she moaned, as she paced around in anger. When she came to a stop she said, "I'll do it only because I know you'll do it without it if I don't."
The air was solemn. "Thank you Mage." Was Tink's only word on the matter. "Once Mage is finished with the device we'll head out."
After that the group separated. Each having to grasp the idea of Tink essentially walking into certain doom. The Doctor however felt the need to voice his thoughts to Tink personally.
"I don't like your plan." He bluntly said.
Tink smirked. He saw this coming from a mile away. "Which part? The fact that this could be a suicide mission or that you're not the one going?"
"Both. For you to come up with an idea so brilliant and then immediately think of one so stupid-"
"Let me get this straight. It's a stupid idea if it's me. But an acceptable one if it's you? How does that make sense?" Tink interrupted, not letting him retort he continued. "In the end Doctor, you are more important than me. If you go and die then me and Rose are left in this time because I have no idea how to drive a tardis. Now for me as a Time Lord, that's not so bad. But for Rose it's a death sentence. This is my first regeneration and therefore I'm…" Tink sighed. "It's more practical. I don't know how many regenerations you've had, nor do I know how old you are exactly. But I know that you are far older than me. Both you and Mage. And since we are the only Time Lords available it is up to one of us. Sending one of the others truly is a death sentence. For Time Lords, dying is but a cold isn't that right?"
By the end of his rambling the Doctor looked speechless. Feeling as though he sufficiently made his point Tink turned to leave. Only to stop at the Doctor's voice. "You're wrong."
"About what?" Tink asked, turning back to hear what the Doctor had to say.
"You are important. And it's precisely because of your age that makes it so." He explained.
The young Time Lord allowed a smile. "Then, give this young one the honor of serving his elders." And with that he left to prepare.
Though in the end the Doctor still looked over Tink as he walked away, his face showing the worry he felt for the very youthful Time Lord
(With Mage and Rose)
After the meeting Mage was furious. "That little moron! How he ever managed to make it to the age he did will forever surprise me!" She mumbled under her breath as she worked furiously.
Rose also looked worried. For both of her new friends. "Mage… Tinker will be alright won't he?"
"Oh he'll be alright, alright. If he isn't alright then I will make sure that he is not alright at all!" She promised as she roughly pieced together the invention she was working on.
"Alright… but why do you think he would suggest doing it himself?" Rose couldn't manage to wrap Tink's reasoning around her head.
So with a sigh Mage set down her tools and turned to face Rose properly. "To be honest that much is probably at least partly my fault... If I hadn't encouraged him. That jab at big ears about what 'he' thought he should do then... maybe he wouldn't be going at all. But yet it's so VERY him. Tinker would never be okay with someone else doing this since it's his plan. He's also a moronic teenager." With yet another sigh Mage looked down.
Until she felt Rose grab hold of her hands. "Don't blame yourself Mage. If that's really how he is then it probably wouldn't matter either way. But you said it yourself right? He'll be okay."
Rose's encouragement uplifted Mage and caused her to smile slightly. "Right. He will be." She said as she turned back to work. 'That much I will make sure of.'
- (Coroners Workplace) -
After Mage announced the completion of her device the group gathered in front of the mansion and moved on to the Coroners place where the Gelth were located.
Mage had given Tink the dead man's trigger and laid out several other devices in front of her. Turning to the others she spoke first. "Alright now listen up! What you see before you are essentially gas guns. These air canisters have been filled to the brim with pure gas. Though we may have the ghost it's better not to be caught with your pants down. All you need to know is that if you see a ghost… point in the general direction and squeeze." She explained for Dickie and Rose.
After the explanation the group kept watch while Tinker mentally prepared to go into the hornet's nest of ghost and alien love children.
For reasons he didn't know Tink knew Mage was right behind him. Already knowing why she was there he spoke first. "I'm going in there Mage. There's no point in trying to convince me otherwise…"
"It's not a matter of convincing. You're not going." The Mage said and pulled out her stunner, "I can render you unconscious with this."
"Mage don't be an idiot and just give me some coordinates for this thing?" He shot back, as he held up his Vortex manipulator.
Mage looked stunned. "You mean you really do have a plan?" Tink's only responded with a look that asked; "Do you think I'm an idiot?". A question she ignored. She shook her head and continued. "That doesn't change the fact it's you in there helpless with that hunk of junk on your wrist as your only escape plan!" She said incredulously, "Some things never change!"
"Well, it's a better escape than anyone else has! Now you can either give me some coordinates, or I'll just run in there anyway and take my chances with regeneration!" He argued back.
"Ugh, you are such a child sometimes!" She vented, "An idiot more like!" But she marched over and wrote a set of numbers on his hand. "If you don't end up getting killed by stupidity, it won't be for lack of trying." She finished with a huff.
A grin quickly grew on his face. "Yup that's me. The idiot with a grin. Not to be mistaken for Mickey the idiot. Now wish me luck!" Tink said as he waved goodbye and ran off into the house.
"Wait we're just gonna let him go alone?" Rose questioned. "What if something goes wrong. I mean he could die!"
"This him anyway." The Doctor said in uncertainty.
Mage gave the Doctor a cross look. "You don't even care! You know for a fact that there's a high chance that he won't come back from this! Yet you just look the other way while he runs off to a mostly certain death!"
"Well I don't see you doing a thing about it!" He shot back angrily.
"I have done something!" She shouted, "Don't think to lecture me on this."
(Off in the distance)
A mysterious figure stood nearby and watched Tinker run into the coroner's place of business through a pair of binoculars as a small, floating... mechanical thing… floated nearby.
"Heh. There he goes. Like a moth to a flame. I very much like the younger versions of Tinker. Much more likely to act first and think later. The older he gets the more difficult he is to kill." The mystery man said.
Then the floating orb next to him spoke. "Quick question here master. Why don't you just go after them yourself? Surely you could take them both out now that they're younger and uhh… dumber?"
The man huffed. "Of course I could. But that would disrupt the game. Not to mention it wouldn't help me get what I need."
"Why not." The machine asked.
"Look CHIP. I need them alive to help me achieve my end goal. But in the end the only way they can help me is if I help them grow. Already knowing what's supposed to happen will stunt their growth and cause them to be lazy. This will not do!"
If CHIP had eyes they would have widened in realization. "Ohhhh I get it! So it's like you're testing them. But what happens if they fail one of your tests?"
"That's why they have the Doctor. To keep them alive."
"Uhhh sure… but judging on what you've told me of the original timeline he wasn't so good at taking care of his companions-"
"That's because they weren't Time Lords!" He shouted as he gave the robot a side glance. "They'll be fine. So stop worrying so much."
- (Inside the Coroners) -
"This was not a good idea." Tink admitted to himself as he slowly moved through the coroners home. Being at the coroner's would be creepy enough but to do it while there were billions of ghosts roaming around? It was like something out of a horror film.
Just then a Gelth popped through the ground, ready to pounce on him.
"Ah ah!" He warned as he held up the trigger in his hand. The act caused the Gelth to stop in its tracks. "You know that air that makes all of you so weak? Well that air is also highly combustible. Make one wrong move and I blow us all to kingdom come." He threatened.
As it heard that the Gelth creature settled down and Tink continued. "Good. Now I want to see your boss."
The ghost-like creature nodded it's head and headed down the hallway where dozens of Gelth watched him walk behind. Soon Tink was back where it all began. At the bridged gap between the worlds.
"Hi again. Tinker here." He said.
"We know who you are. Now what do you want?" It asked.
Ever the cheeky boy Tink responded. "Oh well you know. What every little boy wants I suppose. A shoopuf, a lightsaber, a pet dragon would be cool too. Though thinking about it now the shoopuf and dragon would not be a good combo. But for now I think just making a deal with you and your kind would do."
His cheeky attitude was not needed nor appreciated in a negotiation. A fact that the head Gelth agreed with. "What makes you think we would ever make a deal with you?" It screeched.
Tink just raised the dead man's trigger again. "This little doodad here will take all the gas in this area and set it ablaze. Causing you and all your kind to be blown into oblivion. That's why I think you'll cooperate."
"You wouldn't dare! To do so would ensure your doom!"
"Please! I thought you said you knew me. Whoever told you about me clearly left out that I was a Time Lord. Death for me takes a long time to take hold."
This information was apparently news to the Gelth. "Time Lord!" It shouted in rage, turning completely red.
'Funny… if I really was well known you'd think they'd know I was a Time Lord… oh well.' Tink shrugged. Not like he cared if he was well known or not. "Yeah. Time Lord. So are we going to make a deal or not?
The Head Gelth seethed in rage before it forcibly calmed itself. "And what if we merely take command of your body and force you to drop the device?"
Tink raised an eyebrow at the threat. "Then you better hope you're fast enough. All I need to do is let my arm go slack and you go up in smoke."
Then after a moment he added. "And even if you did manage it I could just force a regeneration to burn you out. You should know that a Time Lord's regeneration is very explosive in and of itself. Either way… is it a risk you want to take?" He asked and stared down the Gelth with a confidence he didn't feel. And he hoped it wouldn't risk it.
The Gelth seemed to enter a trance state after his words. 'Maybe they have some kind of hive mind?' Tinker deducted.
Soon the Gelth came to a decision. "What would be your terms?" If ghost-like beings had teeth to grit that is exactly what it would be doing.
'Small miracles.' The young Time Lord thought with a sigh of relief. "Allow the Doctor to help you. He can do what he promised before. Take you and your kind to another planet where you can rebuild. We will do what we can to get you the bodies you need but we will do it without destroying the lives of those that live here on this world."
The ghostly figure pondered on that for a moment before speaking once more. "We have considered your proposal. And we have created one of our own."
Before Tink could react a Gelth appeared beneath him, sending him flying and forcing him to drop the trigger. He and the other Gelth expected a large explosion to take place but were confused and relieved when nothing happened.
"It was a trick all along!" The head Gelth shrieked. "Take him, my people! Take him and make him suffer! Make him bleed! Make. Him. Die!"
Like predators the Gelth surrounded Tink, pushing his back up against the wall of the building. He had no plans, no knowledge to help him out, and nothing more to do.
Worse yet the Gelth's attack caused severe burns to break out on his body. He may have threatened to force a regeneration but he didn't even know how to do that.
'The Vortex Manipulator!' He suddenly recalled. Cursing himself for his horrible memory he quickly got ready to teleport himself out.
However it seemed he didn't need to worry. Before he could activate it energy particles converged around him. Next thing he knew he was standing outside the Coroners home, everyone staring at him with surprised looks on their faces.
"What just happened?" The Doctor exclaimed.
Tink's explanation was simple. "Negotiations broke down." He said in a disappointed voice. "Though if you're asking how I got here I have no idea."
Before anyone else could ask questions the Coroners home surged in a great explosion of fire.
"What was that?" Rose asked.
Tink knew the answer to that as well. "Mage." He said solemnly. The youngest Time Lord quickly ran off in search of his friend.
-Mages P.O.V- (Just moments before)
The energy pulsed around her as the teleporter activated, Tink was in trouble. Particles of energy swirled around Mage with an all too familiar whirring sound she'd picked from one of her favorite shows back home. With a smile she recollected briefly the time she'd spent designing the short range transmission teleport.
"What's going on?!" Rose shouted.
"Come on Rose, you've heard about teleporters!" Mage said with a quick thumbs up, "Beam me up!"
As the particle cloud grew, the light surrounding her grew hard to bear, in her last moments before the teleport, she saw the Doctor's concerned face. The sight brought back harsh memories of her early life and instinctively, she reached down for her watch as the transport took place.
Chaos. The Geth had gone rabid with anger and power as they lashed out wildly, and Mage had just dropped right into it. She dodged out of the way of the first attack and side stepped another. Then, the Geth realized something was amiss and halted briefly.
"What is this?" They voiced ominously.
"Got a complaint about a gas problem." Mage said, reaching into her pocket and feeling around for something. "You need to get a man in." She finished pulling out a large bundle of impact pulse charges.
"Mercy!" The Geth screamed.
"Sorry lad, you had your chance. And you burned yours when you killed Gwyneth." Mage said with a cold smile as she primed them, "Tinkers is gone, and Magicians know to always end with a bang!"
Mage threw the charges and bolted out through the exit as fast as she could, reorienting the short range teleport as she went. The explosive wall of fire raced after her, but before it caught her, she slammed the initializer on the teleport and fizzled out.
Thrown from the teleport by the force of the explosion, she tumbled to a rest in the garden across the way. She got up on her hands and feet as she coughed.
"Man did you see my last performance… I was on fire!" She said to no one in particular before she fell onto her back, laughing as she caught her breath. 'Man I missed this. How long has it been since my last big fight?'
(Hours after the explosion)
Tinker, Rose and the Doctor spent hours before they finally located Mage. One who felt concerned, one indifferent, and one very angry.
"What right did you have to do that?!" the Doctor yelled. "That was a sentient race you just offed!"
Guess who was the very angry one.
"A sentient race bent on taking over the world! So yeah I think I made the right call!" Mage said.
"It's not your call to make!" said the Doctor.
"Oh and what like you have the right?" Mage said, "You're not the only Time Lord here, so don't think you can pull that 'I am the oldest authority' crap! I just saved everyone and I don't need you to approve my methods!"
Mage then pulled out her watch and glanced at the time before she addressed them again. "Now unless you have anything majorly pressing, I have things to do and not much time to do them. You're welcome," she snapped as she shoved the watch back into her pocket and walked off to hail a coach.
The Doctor seemed fixed to set off after her to rage some more but Tink halted him. "Doc… I think you've already given her a piece of your mind. Would ya mind if I spoke with her?" He asked.
The Doctor turned to stare at him and, for a brief moment, Tink realized that it wasn't the Doctor he had loved from the TV show staring at him. But rather the remnants of the Oncoming Storm he would forever hold within himself.
But as soon as he nodded Tink ran after Mage, hoping to catch her before she left. When he did spot her, he called out to her. "Mage!"
Just as he got there Mage swiftly turned on him in anger. "Ok. I don't want to hear it Tinkerbell! You can just stuff any and all feelings of disappointment you have, because I am not in the mood for it."
Though startled at first, Tink sighed in annoyance. "I really wish you would stop thinking that every time I come after you I have something bad to say or have come to berate you. I just wanted to say… thank you."
His last words left Mage feeling stunned. "You haven't exactly had a great track record of it so far..." She told him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is I've only really berated you once... or twice since we've met… or maybe since I've met you…"
"Hopefully you won't make it a habit." She said with a slight eye roll.
Tink gave Mage a playful grin. "Just as long as you don't give me reason to." Then he let out a sigh. "Though I will say that I'm somewhat conflicted about you pulling me out of there and doing the dirty work yourself."
"Well I got the job done," She responded with some bite in her tone. She turned back to glance at the Doctor and Rose, "How long will you three be staying?"
Tink thought about it. "Well if we end up following through with the original story then we'll be heading back… heading off soon."
He hesitated, as he recalled their earlier discussion and remembered how long Mage still had left to be alone. "But if it's alright with you, I wouldn't mind sticking around till you leave again." He volunteered.
"Big ears wouldn't go for a vacation." She said, "Besides, the slow path is more a me thing. You've never had the patience for it."
The younger Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "First of all I don't recall suggesting that the Doc stick around. Unless it's slipped your mind that he's not the only one with the means to time travel. All you gotta do is write down the coordinates for where the Doc's gonna land before you leave. And by the way? I think I can handle a month. I'm still new to all this. I won't get bored so easily."
Mage seemed to ponder this for a moment, "Well, fine, if you want to. But I'm not your mother so… don't wander off and die or anything. Victorian England… it's a madhouse." She finished as a coach pulled up in front of them, "You know where the house is, say your goodbyes if you want," she added as she climbed in, handing an address to the driver.
Tink smiled as she rode off down the road. Then, he went to talk to the Doctor and Rose, only to find that they were behind him already.
"So you're leaving then are you?" Judging by his face Tink didn't know if he was that bothered by the idea. Rose however…
"Why? Why are you staying behind?" The hurt look on Rose's face was almost too much to bear.
"Look you guys are taking this the wrong way. I'm only leaving for the moment. I'll follow you guys after a month."
Rose looked confused while the Doctor realized what he was saying. "Follow us? What do you mean?"
Tink looked at Rose in confusion until he realized that she didn't know. He lifted his wrist to show Rose the Manipulator. "This thing doesn't just transport someone through space. But also through time. I just put in the right coordinates and badda bing, badda boom. I'm right where I wanna be."
The Doctor immediately spotted something wrong with Tink's plan. "Only if you know how to use it which you said you didn't."
"I don't. But Mage does. I'll be getting the coordinates from her."
Then Rose asked something that stopped Tink in his tracks. "Do you even know where we're going?"
Tink had been about to say 'Of course I know where you're going.' when he realized that… he wasn't supposed to know that.
So he promptly shifted gears. "Of course I don't. That's why I came… that's why I, uhh… where are you going? Or more accurately when are you going? Better yet when and where are you going? I assume you're staying on earth… right?"
Luckily the Doctor and Rose were more amused by his rambling rather than suspicious.
Rose looked at the Doctor, silently asking him to do something.
Who sighed in response and wrote down something for Tink. "Alright I guess if you want to stick around that's fine by me. Use these coordinates when you're ready to follow us. Goodluck Tinkerbell."
Tink rolled his eyes at the name as he took the paper which were apparently the coordinates for the Manipulator. "Please don't call me Tinkerbell. It's not manly."
This merely made the Doctor chuckle before he turned and left.
Rose however gave Tink a hug which made him groan in pain. "What's wrong?" She asked in worry as she let go.
Tink shot her a pain filled grin. "Oh you know. Just a parting gift our Gelth friends left me. I'll have Mage look at it."
"Alright." He could tell that Rose was still worried but had decided to leave it be.
Something he was glad for.
"You know that for you it'll be barely a moment that'll go by right?" He told her with a grin.
"I know. I just felt like it was appropriate to leave with a hug. Bye Tink." And with a wave goodbye she ran after the Doctor.
As he watched Rose and the Doctor leave, Tink couldn't help but feel anxious. After all there wouldn't be any hand-holding with Mage. Even after only a couple of meetings he could tell that.
But on the other hand… the young Time Lord knew that he could learn a lot more from her than he might with the Doctor. As far as inventing went that is.
For one thing Nine didn't do a lot of inventing. Nor did he really seem patient enough to teach someone. Though he and mage didn't quite see eye to eye on a lot of things so it might prove to be equally explosive.
One way or another Tink hoped that this next month would give him a start to help him truly adjust and maybe gain some useful knowledge for his future adventures.
- (Unknown location) -
The mysterious man sat as he pondered on what had happened. Despite all his interactions. All the events he had twisted and changed the end result was the same as the original timeline.
"Master, Master! What do we do now?" CHIP asked, which snapped his master out of his pondering.
"Now?" He repeated. "Now we move onto the next point in their journey that we can manipulate."
"Ooh hoo hoo! This is sooo exciting! Then let's get going already. After all there's no point in sticking around any longer is there?"
The pod's master gave it a sidelong glance. "Yes. There's no point in messing with the timeline when the Doctor or those aligned with his timeline are present." He paused for a moment and stood, facing the pod. "Let's go CHIP."
"Yes Master!" The pod replied excitedly, before it situated itself onto its master's arm. Then both it and it's master disappeared with a flash of light.
(End of Chapter 4)
Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I sure had fun writing it. Thank you all for being so very, very patient with me and my slow freaking writing.
Also before I leave I would like to respond to a couple reviews. First up from Wrath of The Sun Deity. The thing is that Tinker is not a naturally made Time Lord. That and Tinker got his name from his future self. Not sure if that got mentioned before but if not… it's not a big spoiler. But one day Tinker may get his chance to make an oath.
Next to La Plume de Julie. Thank you so much Julie! I really appreciate that you like Tinker so much. Actually I looked back on some reviews recently and yours was the one that inspired me to get back on writing this chapter.
To everyone else please review the chapter with your honest thoughts and questions and I will be more than happy to respond to them in the next chapter.
This is Flamelord14… signing off. Bye!