Both Carl and Tony were more than concerned with what had just transpired in the TARDIS only moments ago as the Doctor now shook off the mental cobwebs and regained control of the TARDIS.

"Carl…" Tony was saying. "That… thing that had the hologram in here… Was that really…?"

"Sutekh? Yeah, it was," Carl sighed. "And that wasn't really a hologram."

"Quite right, it was a mental projection," the Doctor said. "His mental powers are far stronger than I anticipated. More than that, it appears that his power is actually limited now due to his confinement."

"Confinement?" Tony asked.

"You mean in the afterlife?" Carl asked.

"Whatever you want to call it; there are many names for it," the Doctor said. "The ancient Egyptians called it Duat; I've also heard it referred to as the Nethersphere, the Other Side… take your pick."

"But if Sutekh's power is limited… and yet he is stronger than ye thought," Jamie began. "Och, that means that if the coven sets him free from the world of the afterlide, ye willnae be able to stop him!"

"And if the Doc can't stop Sutekh, we're done for," Carl finished. "Sarah Jane was pretty clear that the Doc's our last hope."

"Doctor, if you please," the Time Lord responded. "Now, then; we've escaped Sutekh and his servants for now, but I'm afraid it was at the cost of them getting whatever it was they wanted from the museum."

Jamie went red.

"It's my fault," he mumbled. "If I hadnae made the noise, they ne'er would have found me, and we could have stopped them."

"Actually, I don't think so," Carl said. "If Sutekh really is as powerful as Sarah Jane said, we'd have just as easily been brainwashed if we had tried anything—or put into a coma. Or worse." He hadn't mentioned that the female cultist had been planning to bring Jamie to Sutekh to use as a new host body, and decided that perhaps it was best not to bring that up at all. "We wouldn't have been able to stop them anyway."

"Then… it really is all up to the Doc? I mean, Doctor?" Tony finished.

"Looks that way," Carl replied.

"Well, that's it, then, isn't it? There's nothing you or I can do about it, right?" Tony asked. "Hey, Doctor, can you take us back to our office? The INS?"

"Tony!" Carl chided.

But the Doctor didn't seem to mind at all.

"Certainly; do you know the coordinates?" he asked.

"Eh… Not latitude and longitude, but I can tell you the street address," Tony said, ignoring Carl's expression.

"That will do nicely," the Doctor said.

Carl was now repeatedly poking Tony on the shoulder as Tony ignored him and gave the address of the INS. Soon, the TARDIS materialized beside Tony's desk; the editor looked satisfied as the TARDIS doors opened.

"That's really great, Doctor," Tony said. "Thanks for everything."

"So that's it!?" Carl exclaimed, his arms raised in an exasperated shrug. "You're walking out on him, Tony!?"

"Carl, you said it yourself—there's nothing we can do!"

"We can help!" Carl responded. "We can help him find out how to stop Sutekh from crossing back to this side—if we can do that, then the world will be saved!"

"Carl, I'm an editor. You are a reporter. We are supposed to report the news, not… save the world!" Tony retorted. "I keep telling you and telling you not to get involved in these kinds of things—"

He was cut off as the phone on his desk began to ring. Frustrated, Tony strode over to the desk and answered it.

"Hello!?" he barked, a bit harsher than he intended. "You're who? Kate Stewart? I don't know any Kate Stewart! …UNIT? You… want to know why someone from this IP address accessed your confidential files?"

Carl looked away, sheepishly as Tony glared at him.

"Kolchak!"

"Oh, I can handle this," the Doctor said, with a wave of his hand. He took the receiver from Tony. "Hello? Yes, this is the Doctor. I can assure you that anything these gentlemen were doing was to aid me in my quest against Sutekh—if you ask Ms. Sarah Jane Smith about him, she'll bring you up to date. …Yes, that's right; I'm the second one! Oh, so you're little Kate! Yes, your father and I go way back—the Yeti invasion in the London Underground, to be exact." He covered the mouthpiece of the receiver for a moment and turned to Jamie, who was leaning out of the TARDIS. "Jamie, it's the Brigadier's daughter!"

"Doctor, what aboot Sutekh?" Jamie reminded him.

"Oh. Oh yes, of course…" He turned his attention back to the phone call. "I'm so sorry, Kate, but I really must get back to dealing with this. What's that? No, I don't think I shall need a UNIT squadron; I doubt they'd be of much use, considering what we're up again. Yes, your father always wished there was some sort of menace he could just shoot, but it rarely is that simple… Yes, of course, I'll fill you in on exactly what happens—if not me, then remind one of my other selves to do so. Yes, take care." He sighed as he placed the phone back on the cradle. "Well, it's all settled; UNIT won't press you for the look into their files—but mind that it doesn't happen again."

"Don't worry; it won't," Carl promised. "But say, Tony, it looks as though the Doctor got us out of a jam. Don't you think we owe him one?"

"Carl, please…" Tony said, wincing. "I don't want to deal with any Egyptian gods or whatever it is that's out there. It's already been made very clear that there's nothing I can do about it!"

Carl was struggling to come up with a retort, but couldn't.

"Well, what about the kid!?" he said at last, indicating Jamie. "You think he's in any better position to deal with Sutekh!? Of course not! But he's not running out on the Doctor, now is he!?"

"Sutekh would have t' kill me first," Jamie vowed. "The Doctor's people tried t' get me t' leave the Doctor by wiping my memories, but I still came back and got my memories restored. Only my death will get me t' leave again."

"Okay, so maybe you don't have to be that committed," Carl said. "But at least help the guy out, Tony!"

"I cannot help but notice that helping me seems to be a point of contention between the two of you," the Doctor said, wryly. "I bear no ill feelings if you do not wish to get involved. This is a dangerous affair; I'm not denying that. Though I am used to this sort of thing, I understand if those who are not would prefer to sit this out. Rest assured that I shall do my best to stop Sutekh."

"But there would have to be something we could do, right?" Carl asked. "I mean, even if we can't stand up to him mentally…"

"Oh, of course—you said it yourself a moment ago," the Doctor said. "There is much research to be done about that was taken from the Hall of Gems, and how Sutekh plans to use that to return. And, of course, if we find out how he's going to use those gems, it could allow us to find out how to stop him."

"That's hardly rocket science," Carl said to Tony. "Even someone like you could handle it!"

"Carl, I don't care what it is," Tony said. "There are certain things that you just aren't supposed to get involved with, and this is one of them! If something goes wrong, Sutekh's going to take it out on whoever was interfering with him. I don't think I want to risk that, and I don't think you should risk it either. I'm going to stay out of this, and I really think you ought to do the same!"

The reporter glared back at his editor for a moment before sighing in defeat. At least now he seemed to have moved on from denying that the supernatural was happening. But his stance on dealing with it—or rather, not dealing with it—was exactly the same, and not about to change anytime soon.

"Alright, go on home, Tony!" he said at last. "Go bury your head in the sand like you always do! But don't you go telling me what I can and can't do; I'm sticking with the Doctor! You can fire me if you want to, but my decision is final!"

Tony looked back at Carl; the Doctor nonchalantly twiddled his thumbs, pretending that he wasn't the source of the trouble. Jamie watched, curious as to what was going to happen now with the two newsmen.

Carl now turned away, looking back to the Doctor.

"So where exactly do we go to find out about Sutekh's gems and revival?" he asked. "I don't think the libraries here in Chicago are that specialized—and we can't exactly wait around for an interlibrary loan."

"The TARDIS library is vast enough," the Doctor said, proudly. "If there's any information to be found, it will be there."

"Then let's get going," Carl said, following Jamie and the Doctor back inside the TARDIS.

Tony hesitated as they went inside.

"Carl…!" he exclaimed.

"See you around, Tony," Carl threw over his shoulder. "I'll keep you informed if I get a chance to."

Tony let out a long, exasperated sigh before following the others inside the TARDIS, shaking his head.

"Tony?" Carl asked surprised.

"I thought ye just said that ye were leaving," Jamie said, innocently.

"Yeah, I said that," Tony said to Jamie. "But I know this idiot is going to run headlong into trouble, and I'm not going to sit around waiting for news while he goes and gets himself killed!"

Carl suppressed a smirk as they headed to the library; Jamie looked at the Doctor in slight confusion, and the Time Lord responded with a knowing smile. At any rate, there was work to be done.