Chapter Six

"What do you mean by 'the Doctor'?" asked Cyborg: "Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor." the man responded, smiling. He then looked around, inquisitively.

"Am I in a drainage tunnel?" he asked.

"How astute." Raven deadpanned.

The Doctor sighed. "Of all places to land in an alternate universe, it had to be a sewer. Must by a rather shitty world you live in, eh?"

He smiled and waited for a response. Seeing none, he continued to look around.

"I must say, I am impressed with one thing."

"What's that?" Starfire asked.

"Quite fortunate for me, your universe is of a close enough frequency so that my ship can draw power from it. Rather than being like diesel being put into a petrol engine, it's more like petrol of a different octane."

"Wait a minute here!" Raven exclaimed. "What exactly are you talking about? And what makes you think that you're in a different universe?"

"It'd take a while to explain, given your cultural development." the Doctor answered. "Suffice to say, my ship, the TARDIS, draws power from the universe. If it's in a different dimension, then it normally wouldn't work. But thanks to a stroke of good fortunate, it does! See?"

He smiled and continued. "As for how I know this is not my own dimension, well the TARDIS told me that one. I got these weird readings from it that just didn't look right. Look, it's too complicated to explain it all now."

He clapped his hands together. "In the meantime, since I met you five, may I be so bold as to request a tour of your fair town? By the way, what city am I in?"

"Jump City, located on the west coast of North America." Nightwing answered. "But now is not exactly the time for a tour."

"Oh?" said the Doctor. "And why's that?"

"We're being invaded." Changeling responded.

The Doctor sighed. "Never a moment's peace!" he growled. "What race has an issue with the Earth this time?"

"They're called the Daleks." Starfire answered.

The Doctor froze. His elated expression was replaced with a grim one. He seemed deeply troubled.

"The Daleks are here?" he hissed.

"You know them?" Changeling asked.

"I fought them." the Doctor replied. "I fought them for centuries, across time and space, thwarting their plans. Then came the final battle; when the Daleks engaged in war with my people. It was known as the Time War."

The Titans were intrigued.

"What happened?" Cyborg asked.

"The entire Dalek fleet came to my home planet. Ten million ships in all. The battle was long and fierce. Only through a stroke of luck was I able to destroy their entire race in a massive inferno! They were defeated. But at a terrible cost."

"Your people took the Daleks with them, didn't they?" said Raven.

"Yes." the Doctor said harshly, gritting his teeth. "I'm the last of my race."

"I know some people in our universe that are in the same situation." Nightwing commented. "You're in good company."

The Doctor nodded. "You know, it's because of that war that the TARDIS has to rely on its environment for power. Otherwise, I'd be free to go into any universe I wished, without concern for power."

He sighed. "Well, enough chit-chat. We have a mission to do. Come on!"

He walked to the box and went inside. The Titans just stared.

The Doctor stuck his head out the doors. "What are you waiting for?"

"You're not cramming us all into that small box!" Raven said.

"Trust me, you'll love it!" He went back inside.

Sighing, the Titans stepped into the box...and into a large cavernous room.

"What the hell is this?" Cyborg said in awe. The other Titans echoed his reaction.

"Welcome to the TARDIS!" said the Doctor. "What do you think?"

"Well, the inside is bigger than the outside, so that's a plus." said Changeling.

"It's a phenomenon known as 'dimensionally transcendent.' Never mind what it means, I haven't the time to explain it."

He stepped to a large round control console, which was on a raised platform in the middle of the room. A glowing tube ran in the middle of it. Cables snaked around the ceiling. A study hum was audible.

"May I ask something?" said Raven.

"Go ahead." the Doctor said, manipulating certain controls.

"What exactly is a TARDIS?"

"A ship that can travel through time and space. The name means 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'."

"I see." the mystic muttered, gazing around the room.

"What are you going to do?" Starfire asked the Doctor.

"I'm thinking of putting us in a more useful position than in the sewers. Say, the cliffs to the east?"

Nightwing joined the Doctor at the console out of curiosity. He saw a screen that showed a type of radar map.

"Amazing!" he said. "You had just the idea I did!"

The Doctor smiled. "Except that we're going there in style!"

He worked various controls, changing their positions and flipping some switches.

"Here we go!"

The TARDIS hummed louder. Then, nothing. The hum died down.

"I don't understand." the Doctor muttered, working the controls again. He typed in an inquiry and consulted the computer screen.

"Oh no." he moaned. "Just great!"

"What's wrong?" Starfire asked.

"Even though this universe is compatible, it's not compatible enough!"

"I don't get it." said Changeling.

"It's like having too low a grade of fuel in an engine." the Doctor explained. "The TARDIS is getting enough power to keep it alive, but not enough to travel. Also, there's an interference that's jamming the systems and altering the quantum fields in the city area. It looks like it's coming from the Dalek ship."

"I noticed that too." said Raven. "My powers of teleportation don't work either."

"Neither will our radios." Nightwing added.

The Doctor looked around. "I'm still thinking about what you said." he told Raven. "What exactly are you that you can teleport? In fact, who are the rest of you?"

Nightwing explained to the Doctor who they all were, and gave a brief description of their powers.

"Incredible." he said. He then faced Starfire. "I thought you were a meta-human or something!"

"Nope, that would be me." said Changeling.

"Yeah, I figured."

"I don't suppose you'll tell us who you are?" said Cyborg.

"I told you, I'm the Doctor."

"No, I mean what race are you? Are you human or what?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope. I am what is known as a Time Lord."

"What's that?" Changeling asked.

"No time to explain now." he said, running toward another doorway.

The Titans were dumbfounded by his behavior. When the Doctor returned, he held a small, silver colored device in one hand and what appeared to be a key and flashlight in the other.

"Well, let's go!" he said.

"Where?" asked Nightwing.

"On your original plan. We sneak over to the cliffs. Get it?"

"Okay then." Raven deadpanned.

They all left the TARDIS. The Doctor then used the key to lock the door shut. He then pocketed both it and the strange tool and clicked on the flashlight.

"Well, the TARDIS is secured and my sonic screwdriver is in hand. We're off!"

No one moved.

"Wasn't I clear?" he asked.

"Of course you were!" Starfire said, edgily. "It's just that, well, we're caught off guard by your actions. After all, we just met."

"Perhaps you're not familiar with methods of the Daleks, hmm?" he said curtly. "They undoubtedly are well into their plans of conquest. Therefore, every minute we wait is another minute the Daleks strengthen their grip on this planet. So, forget the formalities, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, run for your lives!"

With that, the Doctor ran in the easterly direction. The Titans all shrugged, and followed.