AN: This one is an audio story recommended by a friend. Honestly, it's here because Donna sees somebody and her description brings me joy.
Hopefully it doesn't come across as just the transcript of it. Here's Death's Deal!
==MGCB==
Pompeii was still heavy in their minds when the mauve alerts started going off. Terra wasn't as surprised as one would suspect. She'd been in the TARDIS during Rose Tyler and Martha Jones' runs. There were other adventures not on screen. Terra was used to that, by now. The whole Year was a...well...a whole year of that. A mauve alert was nothing to fret over.
After some debate between the Doctor and Donna, they arrived on Death's Deal. A very pretty planet by all appearances. The hundreds of hundreds of distress calls painted a bloodzone, ravaged by blown metal and still burning fires. The terrain in contrast was a wonderland. Imagine, if you don't mind, Finding Nemo if it was written by H.P. Lovecraft and also not underwater. A still beautiful landscape to look at without revealing the horrors beneath.
Terra originally suspected ninjas. As a ninja herself she was quite schooled on where a ninja could hide even in such bright conditions. The Doctor dismissed this idea as he'd dismissed all of Terra's ideas.
Five minutes after they landed, they were responsible for twenty-two deaths. Not so much 'responsible' actually but anyone could blame them if they chose. In truth the Doctor and Terra had done nothing. Nothing at all. Arguably, their very presence should've been a warning that the area was dangerous. The title of the planet should've warned anyone away.
A tourist ship known simply as the Attraction explained that they were a tourist trap for the rich. The guide, Hickory Flimms, explained they were some thrill seekers that paid a small fortune to boast that they walked on the planet.
Terra counted twenty-seven aliens in all. Each of them were some variety of human. Many explored the nearby terrain before the ground opened up for a...well...this is where Lovecraft's style comes in. Remember the images that came to you when this idea came about, of what Lovecraft would do to that world.
The creature- alien- eldritch horror whatever- ascending from the ground could only be described as an esophagus with three tusks. Terra was surprised at how monstrous the thing was. Even as high up as she watched it go-over two hundred feet- she would bet another hundred feet were hidden below.
She'd made it a point to never meet the worm from Spongebob Squarepants. Seeing this thing made her feel justified in that decision.
The worm came up to eat the TARDIS, then tried and failed to eat the Attraction. The tusks pierced the engine, setting off sparks. It set the ship and the worm ablaze. In it's haste to leave without being eaten, passengers were left behind.
The only survivors of The Attraction were: Hickory Flimms himself, a Mistress Qwelleen of the Orcheight Guild, a Nimosite anthropologist from the planet Ceratesh called Krux, and two space pirates, Tad Groogan and Lyric. Just Lyric.
Terra could understand the first three and why they came. Flimms needed the job and money. Krux (they were just a walking barnacle man, complete with tentacles for hands! Tentacle hands, she'd never seen the like. Forget Finding Nemo, this world was clearly Spongebob but somehow worse) was probably doing it for study purposes- to see the land themselves. Qwelleen- from that probe she stuck in the ground before the worm arrived- wanted resources from it. That was just a guess from Terra. Why else would Qwelleen have done it?
Of course nobody paid mind to those questions. Everyone was a bit panicked on how exactly they would get off Death's Deal with no ship and where apparently giant worms can and will kill you. Tad Groogan came up with a great idea!
Well that's a lie. The idea wasn't his exactly. It was more that opportunity came knocking and he answered...then shot it, rifled it's pockets, then stole whatever he could find. He was a self-proclaimed pirate after all.
(Yes the Doctor complained about there always being one with a gun. Forget it that Terra carried. The Doctor was assuming that Terra wouldn't quick draw at the first sign of trouble)
Groogan looking Terra's age made his presence less than threatening. Lyric no better- looking more the age of Terra's previous self.
Qwelleen was the next to go. She'd decided to forget the space pirate with a gun, instead walking off a random direction. This was a bad idea as a new creature came up from the ground. This one with long, reddish claws.
Can you feel it, Mr Krabs?
Can you feel it, Mr Krabs?
Can you feel it, Mistress Qwelleen?
Terra shot first. Groogan's gun was barely warmed up when Terra was already shooting three rapid rounds into the appendages. Too late to save Qwelleen, for all that Terra tried.
After some scolding a la the Doctor, Groogan revealed his plan. A still functional distress beacon from a ship rumored to have crashed with treasure. Terra got a 'friend we made along the way' vibe to this treasure, or maybe even a 'cool new science that maybe got out of hand'. Definitely not any jewels or precious minerals for Groogan to swipe.
Yet as he played this beacon...Donna noticed it was Morse Code.
Terra was the one to realize it spelled out 'allonsy'.
==MGCB==
The Howling Jupiter was just about the most boring looking ship on this planet. Which, on a planet where everything was covered in coral, made it stand out. Donna noted that oddness of it to the Doctor and Terra. The Doctor answered that they might be retreating. If a message for the Doctor was inside, Terra couldn't blame the coral.
Groogan recruited Flimms for his treasure hunting. Krux decided to wait outside the ship. Apparently his planet was a lot like Death's Deal but with less death.
The Doctor, Terra, and Donna went off with Lyric. They had a signal to follow.
Oh what a signal it was...
The flight deck was surprisingly intact. There was minor damage in the form of the shattered viewscreen. The elements were brought inside but they seemed not to affect the message itself.
"No remains of the crew. Like they were never here." The Doctor examined the central control panel. "Residual power but the sensors are shattered. Pity, thought I might be able to locate the TARDIS."
Terra wanted to mention hearing the TARDIS in her head. A faint song, singing softly and distantly. She'd been able to hear that song for years now. Bringing it up now could bring up bad memories of the Year. So...she'd be quiet.
She was focusing more on who could be sending this message. She dismissed her sister, and Jack. They would've been more subtle, or even giving the clue on Terra's phone. Terra wondered if it was a thing from Rose Tyler and her adventures crossing over the border between worlds. How many ways could she reach out, besides the few random clips of her screaming in the show? Or the Doctor tracing her with a sonic?
"Your blue capsule?" Lyric asked. By the Author, every time she spoke Terra was reminded of her previous body. Lyric looked not too different. Her behavior was quiet, usually staying in the back of their survival group and maintaining silence. Her blue eyes were another matter entirely. They hit Terra's hearts with the accuracy of a knife. "It was destroyed."
"No it was eaten. There's a difference." The Doctor corrected Lyric.
"She's been hit by everything!" Terra added. "The TARDIS is tougher than tusks, pfft."
The Doctor got out his sonic. He pressed it against a control panel- the source of the signal. "Funny thing is...there's a secondary signal inside the distress call." He glanced over his shoulders at his companions. "Who'd leave me messages on a derelict spaceship? Any ideas?"
"Intergalactic call center? Trying to spam you for space insurance?" Donna suggested.
"I never buy insurance." The Doctor dismissed. "Terra, anything?"
"Someone insane!" Terra considered the only logical option left. The only person she knew that left messages for the Doctor to find. While the timeline barely made sense this way, she wouldn't put it past River Song. "From the future...probably knows that this is the most effective way of getting you to pay attention...knew you would be here..."
On the control panel a small screen glowed. A snowy picture appeared.
To Terra's shock, it wasn't River Song or Jack or even Darcy. The people on screen were later described by Donna as 'a geeky looking young man with big hair, a red bowtie...and strangely familiar eyes'.
Terra's chest tightened at the first sight of the bowtie. The last time she'd seen it, the bowtie was dark blue, the coat was purple. She could remember him with accuracy, as if it were happening before her eyes all over again.
Suddenly, Terra remembered a new form of grief. The grief of mourning this Doctor- her Doctor, in a lot of ways- hurting worse than anything ever. How was she supposed to cope?
I killed you
I'm so sorry Doctor
Donna didn't need to describe the other. Beside him was a much more familiar face, if not outfit. Bright ginger hair curled around her shoulders, a blue bowtie, and a bright pink sweater instead of her pink bodice and white sleeves.
"Hold on, that's Terra!"
"It's me!" The Time Lady on the screen waved dramatically.
Terra narrowed her eyes at the screen. "There's a comment here that I'm choosing not to acknowledge."
"What." The Doctor gawked. "No- what?!"
"Terra, who's this bozo?" Donna asked.
Terra pointed her thumb at the Doctor.
"Hello Me." The Eleventh Doctor waved. "How am I? See I sorta kept the hair. It's not too bad although ginger would've been nice."
"He's jealous." Terra on screen flipped her hair.
"Would've been cool, wouldn't it?" The Eleventh Doctor smiled, wistfully at his friend's bright orange hair. She elbowed him. "Hello Donna Noble!"
"Hi! Hi it's me! On screen, and on your left! And this is the Doctor!" Future Terra straightened her bowtie, beaming. "Don't you worry a bit, I'm keeping it in good condition."
She could almost breathe a sigh of relief. Her worries were already full blown with the sight of the future Time Lord. And what to be said of her Doctor, of what dangers he faced by the end of his life. Dangers Terra herself threw him in.
Future Terra promised he was in good condition...how long could she promise that?
"But he's younger!" Donna argued, confused. "Blimey, that's major work you'll have done! More than a nip and tuck-"
"Donna ! Future me is talking!" The Doctor interrupted. His cheeks were slightly pink. Turned from Donna's view, Terra had a front row seat.
"Sorry for leaving a message on a random derelict spaceship but there's something important we need you to do and I'm afraid it's going to be dangerous."
He spoke with his hands. Every word was met with an exaggerated swing of his hands, a twisting of his fingers like he was trying to speak to them through sign language, a constant tilting of the head like why one would shake a magic eight ball.
Terra could never understand how he was taken so seriously. She wanted to meet him, to meet this Doctor again so bad...seeing him, be able to feel a real person beneath her hand rather than old memories...that would soothe her.
She understood why the Doctor was still so enamored with Sarah Jane Smith, a half a dozen faces later. Nobody could ignore this feeling swelling up inside.
It wasn't romantic, Terra was certain of that. This didn't come with the same feelings it did for Martha. This...this was like when Terra sat in a state covered in ash, and her sister appeared at her side.
Eleven was still talking. "You see, this really is the deadliest planet in the galaxy. Not because of the coral-"
"Kinda actually though-"
"Right yes, that coral will kill you too. It's because of what's underneath the surface. Slaughter crystals."
The Doctor blanched. Terra didn't have any idea what the problem was, but she took it seriously. Well not 'any idea'. Anything called 'slaughter crystals' weren't exactly gonna be nice, huh?
"The Wraith Mining Cartel is on its way right now." The Eleventh Doctor went on. "They're criminally insane and will bulldoze the planet to get what they want. I know you need to get people to safety, but also stop Wraith or millions upon millions will die."
"What must I do?" The Tenth Doctor asked.
This made the Eleventh grin. "And now you're asking yourself 'what must I do?' I never doubted you. Terra did."
Future Terra shrugged. Her pink sweater fluffed up as she did. "Yeah, there was a lot to doubt. Terra, you've met him, you understand him best of all."
It shocked Terra from her own head. She'd been stuck in a mind loop of...to be honest, it was just the Eleventh Doctor's parting words to her. "I do." Terra nodded, stroking her chin. "Finally someone gets me."
Future Terra smiled, sympathetic. Not to the idea of being understood, rather instead of the storm raging in Terra's mind. She'd been in Terra's boots. She remembered what this must be like.
"It's the most dangerous of all, and he was so good with dangerous." Eleven reminded her.
"Good at nearly dying from dangerous." Terra countered.
"You always picked up my slack." The Eleventh Doctor praised. Both Terra's beamed at the compliment. "Okay. That's a good point...anyway!" The Eleventh Doctor clapped his hands together, getting back on point. "Go deep into the coral field. There you'll find a survivor. A Mr Merritt Erskine-"
"Professor Erskine." Future Terra corrected.
"Yes. The Professor has proof that slaughter crystals exist. The TARDIS is stuck somewhere deep underground. Terra knows the way- she can hear the signal in her sonic. Apparently she put in the upgrade."
Future Terra tapped her skull. Terra tapped her own skull too. Ah, so they were going to lie about hearing the TARDIS. That's okay. She can believe it well enough from the sonic.
"Find it, and transmit that proof to galactic authorities." The Eleventh Doctor instructed. "Oh and make sure you save Erskine."
Terra's watch beeped. "Meap! We're out of time!"
The Eleventh Doctor grinned at himself through the screen. "Good luck, Doctor! After me, you're the greatest."
Future Terra just smiled at her younger. She'd said all she needed to say. Terra silently praised herself.
While she hadn't Jumped to Spongebob, she had plenty of fun in Phineas & Ferb.
Future Terra winked just as the screen cut to black.
Terra's hearts may have broken when she lost sight of him. What of it? Her hearts were used to it by now.
"Slaughter crystals." The Doctor snarled.
"Bad right?" Donna asked.
"Very rare. Very toxic." The Doctor explained. "Bombs powerful enough to devastate planets everywhere. Civilized society planned their extraction."
"So basically the worst sort of thing for anybody to have, ever. Worse than a laser gun." Terra asked.
The Doctor nodded. "Worse than a million guns."
"How did Wraith find out?" Lyric asked.
Right. She existed. With all the craziness of the past few minutes, Terra actually forgot she was there for a bit. Could she be blamed? Her First Face was sending them a message.
"Pocahauntus!" Donna exclaimed. Terra gawked at Donna, wondering how that was relevant. Donna made more pop culture references than Terra. 'Twas a mighty feat indeed. "I mean, that woman, Qwelleen? I saw her using some kind of probe!"
"Yeah!" Terra gasped. "She wore a feather headdress. Is that what you meant?" Donna looked confused. "By Pocahauntus?"
"Oh! Yeah. Sorry-"
"No it was clever." Terra praised. "Got it quick- just wanted to check. She did hold that thing up in the sky, like trying to get a signal on a bad phone-"
"He said there was a survivor." Lyric spoke up. By the slight tremble and force of her voice, she'd been building up the courage to do it. "Erskine. Could it really be true?"
"Well, my future self said so and I'm rarely wrong." The Doctor encouraged her.
Terra winced. "Well-"
"What'd you think of that hair, by the way?" The Doctor interrupted.
"A bit-" Terra gestured to his head, twisting her fingers about. "-floppy."
"Floppy?"
"Donna what'd you think?" Terra asked.
Donna gave her answer.
Terra and the Doctor stared. Terra was fighting a giggle, while the Doctor looked more offended than before.
"What do you mean, 'future self'?" Lyric asked. She was so new to the whole thing, it made sense she'd be lost. "He looked nothing like you. Are you a shapeshifter?"
"No not really. Although I've a friend who was." The Doctor admitted.
"Really?" Terra was surprised. The only shapeshifters she knew here were Zygons. Granted the Slitheen were close with human skin suits, and anything with a decent perceptions filter. She'd have to look this guy up-
"Yes actually, he liked being a penguin." The Doctor recalled with delight.
Terra blinked. Donna- too- seemed curious by the revelation. "I'm jealous- now I wanna be a penguin."
The Doctor gave her a comforting pat on the back. Terra reasoned the only way she would ever become a penguin was to jump to Happy Feet or even Madagascar.
(She refused both)
"You must be a master of disguise!" Lyric reasoned.
Terra tensed. Her hand gripping tight to her Bag, and the Doctor's arm.
"Nah. Not one of those." The Doctor dismissed. He put a hand on Terra's, squeezing it in assurance. "That was...an old friend."
Terra breathed out through her nose. Her smile was too sharp, too tight, to be relaxed. Her eyes shrunk, darting about looking for some threat only she knew was coming.
It didn't help that a noise went off above their heads. An awful upsetting thing- like an advancement of attack.
Terra gripped tighter to the Doctor. "Time to pick up your slack!"
The Doctor was the only one to give it a laugh as they ran. Even then, it was only in their heads.
==MGCB==
Now a lot of things happened after. None of them were particularly important. Frimms died from more creatures, melted before their eyes. Donna nearly died too if Terra hadn't shot the creatures off. Because of their arrival, a hole formed in the ground that Donna and Krux fell inside.
Terra did her best to give directions to the TARDIS- a general direction of 'that way' and such. She hoped it would help.
The remaining four went into the large deadly coral field. They found Erksine walking that field, clearly six years in isolation ruined his sanity.
Terra wouldn't know what that was like.
...Shut up.
How'd they get the number? Well that was thanks to Lyric Erksine. The mad scientist was apparently her long lost father. What a treat! Lyric knew her father was sent to this planet on a surveying mission, tricked by Wraith and even shot down by them. Her only evidence in his survival being hope. She worked to get on this planet, hitching a ride with Groogan. Pity that her own father didn't recognize her- refusing to even look at the locket around his neck with her picture in it.
Erksine wasn't idle those six years either. He trained pets to guard his ship. He tamed even the coral around it, fending it off from his crashed ship. Such a wonder, a brilliant mind even if the edges were a bit mucked up. Worse yet was the slaughter crystal he used on his walking staff. A single scratch melted Groogan into a corpse.
Fathers never like their daughters choice of mate
Not that Lyric even liked Groogan
Groogan liked her- a lot
One was almost said to see him go
...nah
Erksine apparently liked keeping his pets and garden well fed. He would toss them off a cliff into a giant patch of coral. Any of the usual stragglers around, perhaps even former members of his crew, perhaps former tourists on the Attraction, the splashes of blood around his feeding cliff made it clear he wasn't shy of it.
Terra couldn't tell exactly what happened on Donna's end. All she knew was that as she fought off Erksine, her and the Doctor's Sonics buzzed with a confirmation signal. It upset Erksine's pets and garden. Apparently the Lovecraft style Spongebob Squarepants planet didn't much like a bunch of signals constantly blaring.
Yeah she didn't like that much either.
The Doctor dropped his sonic. Terra used her's for the return signal.
Her Future Self was only able to give a brief message. While the language of 'Meap' was versatile, there was only so much it could do in a rush.
Terra knew that the Doctor and Lyric would fall off the cliff, Erksine too. Erksine at least gave Lyric the locket before he died.
Lyric fell off. The Doctor grabbed her, slipping himself. Terra- forewarned- was able to pull a rope from her Bag to use for leverage. She got the two back up to stable ground.
The TARDIS appeared behind them. Terra sighed in relief. Donna walked out, Krux behind her. He really liked the box. The locket was revealed to have the evidence needed. The Doctor used it to alert the authorities.
Terra also destroyed the automated mining ships incoming. Before the Doctor could rage, Terra revealed the message her future self let slip. He was impressed that Future Terra managed to slip something under his nose.
Ha
Haha
Haha
Ha ha
Haha
Terra just took the praise then let it slide.
The Doctor deactivated the signals. The planet instantly calmed down- less rage from the coral and worms.
Krux and Lyric decided to stay behind for the authorities, let them know what occurred. Krux even wanted to bring back a survey team now that the planet was calm. Lyric on the other hand was standing to the side, looking down at the ground and trying to hide her grief.
Terra understood pain like that. "Lyric? Did I not mention, thanks? For sticking by us."
"Yes." The Doctor chimed in, cheery as ever. "Thank you, Lyric."
"It's a pity you only partly succeeded." Lyric replied. The Doctor scrunched up his eyebrows, frowning. Terra tilted her head. "The message? Your future selves said to save my father." Lyric held the locket tight, the remnants of her picture still there.
"They said 'save Erskine'. They didn't specify which one." The Doctor pointed out.
Lyric frowned. Yes, they hadn't specified. Still she must've wanted her father to make it out of there. Terra figured a mind that lost, even that small bit of clarity at the end, wouldn't last long as memories of what he'd done the past few years.
The Doctor gave her the microdrive, full of data collected by her father.
"There's a lot of data on here. You'd be very interested." He explained. "Perhaps you can even build off it, assume your father's role and protect the cosmos. Make sure slaughter crystals stay in the ground. Maybe that's your destiny." The Doctor suggested. "Who knows?"
Lyric eyed it, hesitant. "Who knows indeed." Then for the first time since they met, Lyric smiled.
==MGCB==
Back in her room that night- after introducing Donna to her personal room for her stay, Donna was very much in love with it- Terra might've cried.
She missed him
She missed him with a physical ache in her chest
Him and Oswin...her entire self felt crushed by their absence.
The Doctor didn't remember the message by the next day. Donna was confused by that. The Doctor admitted he could remember the instructions, remembered they sent them to Erskine, he just couldn't remember watching it.
Terra explained it to Donna. The complicated nature of time around Time Lords. If they were to interact with a future self, time would wipe it from the Time Lord's mind. They simply couldn't handle the confusion.
It made sense as she explained it. The Eleventh Doctor didn't know his own face, which the Tenth Doctor just witnessed. Maybe subconsciously he would remember.
Donna then asked why Terra hadn't forgotten.
Terra just giggled. Donna waved her off, guessing that Terra didn't remember either.
Terra could never forget his face
Ever
She refused.
Her mind may be lost but she would never let that moment go.
A memory of her Doctor, alive and well, smiling happily by her side. Why should she?
==MGCB==
AN: Hahahaha, Donna thinks 11 looks young. Hahaha he's like twelve years old, Donna, don't bully the child. Hahaha that's my job!
Yeah this took longer than I would've liked. Publishing an update close to the special threw me off. Luckily I was able to scramble this together. I was originally gonna make it longer but...nah this was alright.
The next update will be for Planet of the Ood and it will exist.
If you don't mind, leave a review? I love reading what y'all gave to say!