A/N: And so, by certain request, some of the Doctor's best enemies make their appearance.
"Cybermen!"
"What-men?" Lord Death asked, still brushing the dust off his black cloak.
"Terrible creations." The Doctor said, fists clenched. "Humans. Stuck in a suit of metal and cut off from all emotion. They believe in a monotone world, free of pain, fear, happiness, and creativity."
"Well, not while I'm still reaper!" Lord Death coiled into a striking position, ready to attack, but the Doctor motioned for him to stop.
"Wait." The Doctor said. "Maybe... Just maybe..." The Doctor's voice trailed off.
"Maybe what?" Asura was already stood up and once again on lookout, this time toward the impact crater.
"Come on, I want to see something." The Doctor pulled himself out from the little crevice that their base was sheltered in and began walking towards the impact crater. Lord Death and company followed. As the Doctor walked, restless thoughts began to intrude into his mind. What if they found a way from the void? Why in this universe? Where did I put my tempo-tie? When he reached the edge of the deep crater, all of the Doctors questions were answered.
And the Doctor smiled.
"Oh, of course!" The Doctor jumped and slid down the crater wall, and ran up to the silver pill-shaped pod in the center. "How could it not be that? That's brilliant!"
"What is?" Lord Death and the others slid down to catch up to the Doctor.
"Cybermen!" The Doctor exclaimed, running around the capsule.
"Yeah... what'bout 'em?" The woman asked.
"This is an emergency escape pod from the 22nd Cyber Legion. They must have been attacked, and this is the survivors." The Doctor stopped and knocked on the side of the pod. No response. "Yes! They're in hibernation mode until they think it's safe to come out."
Lord Death inspected the pod suspiciously. "How'd they get here?"
"A crack in time and space." The Doctor said. "Tons of them happen every second. It's a part of nature. But this one was big enough to accommodate the pod!"
"But what's that got to do with anything?"
"I'll show you." The Doctor ran up to the side of the pod, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and began buzzing the side of the pod. He puled off a panel and showed everyone the complicated circuitry inside. After everyone was finished gaping at the futuristic technology, the Doctor searched around until he found one circuit in particular that was beeping and flashing. "See that?" The Doctor pointed towards the flashing circuit. "That is a subwave emergency beacon. That must have been what drew my TARDIS off course into your world. And that must be the reason why I can't leave." The Doctor began poking and prodding at the circuit. "It has enough power to stabilize the phasers and draw me down to Death City."
"What City?" Lord Death asked.
"Oh, city in the future you'll know soon enough. But the power level of this circuit is staggering. So much so that..."
The Doctor froze. "...that the only way that they could sustain the circuit is if they were within proximity..."
"Of what?" Asura came up from behind the Doctor.
"Of the city itself. As in, right below the city itself."
The Doctor scrambled up the cliff and hit the ground running full sprint back to the TARDIS just beyond the camp. "That means everyone at the school is in danger!" The others raced after him and called for him to slow down, but the Doctor couldn't stop. He reached the TARDIS, jammed the key into the lock, ran inside, slammed the door, and rushed up to the console. He typed in the temporal coordinates and hit "View Time" on the monitor. It showed Death City as it was when he left it. "Now let's adjust the temporal vector by..." The Doctor furiously punched keys on the console. As he did, the monitor showed Death City reversing in time, slowly at first, but sped up as it went. It showed the city from present to the grand opening to the construction. "There!" The Doctor stopped the rewind. In the image, he saw the silver pod just barely sticking out above the sand as the construction began.
"Doctor!" Lord Death yelled from outside the TARDIS doors.
The Doctor raced up to the doors and flung them open. "Sorry, but Death City is in danger. You'll understand in the future." The Doctor shut the doors and stepped towards the console, but stopped and turned towards the doors again. He poked his head out and smiled. "By the way," he said, "Next time you see me, I probably won't remember who you are. Sorry 'bout that. Timestreams are a little confusing." He shut the door, ran up to the console, and once again began to work his Time Lord magic on the TARDIS. The engines started up, and the blue box that lay before Lord Death and his friends slowly faded away to the sounds of Vwoorping. Asura only sighed.
"What was that?" He asked.
"That, my friend," Lord Death said, "was the best kind of madness."
"Madness?" Asura asked.
"Madness with a blue box."