Chapter 6: The Tale of Two TARDIS's

"Ok, Operation Adorable Investigators is underway."

The Doctor was pacing around the Bus' corridor, a small screen in his outstretched hand. He and Ms. Frizzle were alone in the bus, Frizzle sitting in the front seat and looking over the mechanical innards of what The Doctor had taken to calling 'The DinoBots'. They'd taken the pieces in to examine them, and hopefully pinpoint any alien tech that may have gone into them.

She jumped slightly when a particular piece of machinery sparked near her hands, before giggling it off.

Dorothy-Ann's face appeared on The Doctor's screen.

"Doctor, we've been thinking, and the others and I want to change the code name of our operation, 'Adorable Investigators' doesn't really carry much professionalism."

"Oi, you're adorable and you're investigating. It fits. Whatever, who has time to worry about names? You're supposed to be asking around town- who lives here who's scientifically savvy enough to build the DinoBots? Who lives in that big building Amy found? Has anyone in town been acting suspicious?"

Rory's face joined Dorothy-Ann as he leant over her shoulder.

"Yeah, Doctor, I'm pretty sure the name 'DinoBot' is copyright."

"HUSH, Rory."

Rory shrugged indifferently before walking off-screen.

"By the way," asked Dorothy-Ann, "what are we talking on? You never did say what it was."

The Doctor picked up the clockwork skull of the RaptorBot

"Standard Comms Device." he said. "Nice little trinket from a couple decades in your future. Talk about unprofessional; don't tell anyone I gave you that!"

"No need to worry Doctor; my lips are sealed."

"Good." The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and began to scan the machinery around Frizzle. "Now back to work."

He switched the comm off as Frizzle leaned back to look curiously at the screwdriver.

"Anything alien?"

"Not yet. Not that I recognize, anyway. I suppose it's not too much of a stretch to imagine they were built on Earth, but whoever pulled it off has to be stone cold brilliant."

"Sounds fun."

The two shared a grin as The Doctor moved to sit down, examining the giant, clawed metal foot next to him.

"Eh, that's what you're in for when I'm around; fun fun fun."

They smiled at each other again, as if reliving a shared memory.

It was the Earth year 2008 and The Doctor ran through the garden of Amy Pond, unaware that the girl in question was currently chasing after him. He had just changed his face, been incredibly clever and saved the world in quick succession (again), and the only thing in his mind was his big blue beauty.

There it was; The TARDIS. She had closed herself for repairs only half an hour ago and yet to The Doctor it felt like an eternity. He ran up to her with a look of glee, knowing on sight that she was ready to take him back in and show him her new interior.

"Ok." he said, slightly out of breath from all the running, "What have you got for me this time?"

Sticking the key into the lock, the man opened her doors and stared in lovingly. The console room looked like it had exploded; but in a good way. It was like the cluttered workspace of some wizard from a fairy tale and it was absolutely perfect for him.

"Look at you." he was barely above a whisper, "Oh, you sexy thing. Look at you!"

He closed the door behind him and started dancing around the controls like a kid at a candy store, taking off for who knows where and unknowingly leaving a certain redhead alone to wait yet again for his return.

"Ooh, yes, this is too good! So, what do you say old girl; a quick trip to the moon and back to run you in, eh?"

Suddenly, the console room shook violently; knocking him to the floor.

"I take that as a no."

He stood up and looked at the scanner. For whatever reason, he was headed to late 1993.

"1993? Why are we going there? I mean, yay, 1993, great, awesome. But why?"

Another violent shake rocked the control room.

"Ok, then..."

It was the year 1994 Valerie Frizzle skipped merrily down the street, having just applied for a teaching position. Her parents had always told her she had a gift for scientific knowledge, and that combined with her love of children made this career path the only one she'd ever really sought after.

The fact that she was abruptly tossed into a wall by a troop of tall, armored creatures with rhinoceros heads did little to dampen her mood. They also had rather neat studded kilts that Frizzle made a mental note to buy for herself.

"RO SHO CLO FO RO NO TO JO SHO BO KO!"

"Why hello, who are you?"

The lead rhino-man pulled a small red device off its armor and held it to Frizzle's lips.

"FO SHO NO RO CLO MO VO!"

"I'm afraid I don't speak that language."

The red device flashed a dull blue light before the rhino inserted it into a cavity in the chest of its armor.

"Language Assimilated." it said in a low, gruff voice filled with professionalism and menace. "You are owed our thanks."

Frizzle smiled. "I'm always happy to help!"

"Duly noted. Your further assistance may be required."

"Why certainly, what with?" The redheaded woman asks.

"I am Commander Tybo of the Judoon. Our platoon is in search of a time-and-space machine called the TARDIS. This machine is incredibly rare and dangerous, and it must be prevented from falling into the wrong hands. By decree of the Shadow Proclamation, it is our job to find the machine, and confiscate it."

Frizzle scratched her head, trying to recall having seen such a thing.

"If I catch wind of one, I'll let you know, first thing!"

"Your cooperation is noted, Miss..."

"Frizzle."

"Thank you Miss Frizzle. Lovely name." As the Judoon walked off, Ms. Frizzle couldn't help but feel the compliment was incongruous to the ones giving it. She shrugged and decided going to the park was a good idea.

A few hours later, it was much darker outside and Frizzle was still walking throughout the park. She couldn't quite see where she was going, but she wasn't quite focused on that or anything else for that matter.

She suddenly heard a popping noise in the distance that took her out if her rather disjointed train of thought. She followed the noise curiously and found herself observing a big yellow...something, surrounded by smoke and fog.

Looker closer, she noticed it was a School bus. Looking even closer than that, she noticed it had a face.

"How strange," she said, walking up to the bus, "who leaves a perfectly good School bus in the middle of a park?"

As she approached, the bus seemed to shudder and on its face there seemed to be a look of fear.

"Hey," she said in a hushed voice, reaching up to stroke the bus gently. She wasn't aware of it at the time, but that would be the first time the strange bus had ever known a touch so gentle.

"I won't hurt ya. Don't be afraid." She didn't know HOW this bus could be alive, but she just knew that it was. She wasn't the type to question the how in these types of situations, anyway.

Sure enough, its face seemed to relax slightly as its doors flew open and Frizzle steeped in with some hesitance. Its innards looked like any School bus should, though a bit beat up.

"Now who in their right mind would up and leave you here?"

The lights on the bus suddenly came on, followed swiftly by the sound of an engine as the bus lunged forward without any input from its sole occupant. Frizzle fell over into the driver's seat and let out a howl of amusement.

Sitting up straight, Frizzle looked out the windshield as they appeared to be exiting the park. Just as they reached the road, the bus stopped.

"What happened?"

No response.

"Ooh, would you like me to drive now?"

The bus beeped twice, and Frizzle grinned as she interpreted that as a 'yes' and grabbed the wheel.

"I think I'm going to take you home with me!"

They had barely been driving for a few minutes before crashing into...something. Gathering herself from where she sat, Frizzle saw nothing but a slight distortion in the air around them. She scratched her head in confusion as the bus grew a face of panic. The vehicle tried to retreat but was met from behind with another invisible blockade. Suddenly, the rhino men from earlier appeared. Out of the woodwork, so to speak.

"Ah, look at that, it's those gentlemen from earlier. Hey, you're shaking. What's wro-?"

Looking closer, she saw that the rhino men were advancing on the bus with what looked like guns.

"Oh that's what's wrong. Well that's not particularly nice of them."

Suddenly there was an odd sound inside the bus. The bus shook more slightly, as Frizzle ignored the sound and continued to observe their assailants.

"Attention human," came the same guttural growl as before, projected as if through a megaphone, "we command that you step out of the bus."

The bus beeped loudly again as Frizzle put a finger to her lips in thought.

"Well, he does carry an amount of authority."

"Yeah, Judoon tend to do that. I wouldn't give it too much mind though they're all a bit thick."

Frizzle turned to see a slightly crazed looking man in a bow tie leaning on the back of the driver's seat. By all appearances he was at least five years her junior.

"Oh, hello," Frizzle said, "How did you get in?"

The Doctor snapped and pointed to the back of the bus where a large blue box labeled 'Police Public Call Box'. Frizzle went over to the box and looked over it in fascination.

"I'm The Doctor, she's the TARDIS. We travel in time and space, don't ask questions. Dunno why she was in such a massive rush to bring me to a School bus surrounded by Judoon of all things. Hey, what do they want with you anyway?"

Tybo's voice rang out again in answer to The Doctor's question.

"Ah, that man...identified as The Doctor!"

"Ah great, they recognize me."

"The Doctor and the human civilian will leave the time-and-space machine identified as the TARDIS! If not, we will be forced to kill you both!"

The Doctor stood with his mouth agape for a moment, as Frizzle walked up next to him.

"But we're not in the TARDIS; the TARDIS is in the back of the b-"

The Doctor stopped abruptly, and stepped back in shock as he made a sudden realization. He rubbed the back of his head and began to pace down the bus's corridor. Frizzle observed him before turning to the assemblage of buttons present on the bus.

"Say, Doctor?" Frizzle began, but was interrupted by the Doctor's rambling.

"That's why we're here, isn't it? That's why she brought us here- she's found one of her sisters! This bus is a TARDIS!"

"Doctor?"

"That explains why it's a School bus in the first place, chameleon circuits at work."

"Doctor!"

"Sorry, yeah?"

Frizzle extended her hand, and the Doctor took it.

"Valerie Frizzle."

"Ah. Hello Valerie Frizzle, very nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Now, I do believe that our friend Tybo mentioned killing us?"

On cue, a laser blast hit the side of the bus; sending the vehicle into a panic along with itsoccupants.

"Doctor, you seem to know what this bus is better than I do. Do any of these buttons look familiar? Like something that could get us out of here?"

The Doctor rushed over to the controls and looked them over.

"Yes, I've seen it before. Type-580, built during the Time war. No wonder the Shadow Proclamation want their hands on it."

"The who?" Questioned the woman.

"The Shadow Proclamation. Think space police, with the Judoon here as they're hired guns."

The laser fire on the bus increased and it beeped loudly in distress.

"Speaking of, this button here should be...the thrusters!"

The Doctor pressed a button and in less than a second the bus had grown wings and a set of back thrusters and was flying up away from the Judoon.

"The Judoon tried to box you in with stationary generated force fields, but there's one place they just can't put them and that's the sky!"

The bus flew through the night as the Judoon fire died down, the Judoon themselves growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

There was a moment of relative silence before Frizzle spoke up.

"Now that the excitements over with, I suppose now's the time for me to ask some questions."

The Doctor had been distracted, looking at the bus around him as if it was some kind of precious artifact.

"Hm? Oh, yes, that...business, that just happened. Well, this bus is now one of the last remaining TARDIS's in the universe. They're meant to be able to travel through time and space and they're incredibly powerful. This model in particular is pretty unique, so my guess is the Shadow Proclamation sent Tybo and his men after it to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands." The Doctor said all of this as he ran his screwdriver over Frizzle before giving it a read.

"You're human." he said.

Frizzle breathed a sigh of relief. "It's so good to finally have that confirmed."

The Doctor gave a chuckle.

"Just checking, didn't wanna get my hopes up and assume another TARDIS meant another Time Lord."

He noticed Frizzle's quizzical look.

"My Species." He stated flatly.

The Doctor expected at this point to be bombarded with even more questions: How could he be an alien? Where was he from? Instead, Frizzle merely said-

"Oh. So...are you alone then?"

Just then a breaking noise was heard and the bus began falling from the sky into the woods that were now below them.

They had crashed into the ground before they even had the chance to prepare for impact. The Doctor had no idea how long he was unconscious, but when he woke up he noticed quickly that Frizzle had already left the bus.

"Valerie?" he asked, stepping out of the bus. He found the woman stroking the bus comfortingly, as it looked a bit wrecked from the fall.

"Ah, yes. Flying must've taken up a lot of energy. It already spent most of it just getting to this time period."

Frizzle gave him that same look that silently demanded answers.

"...In the war, the Time Lords thought it'd be beneficial to have increased cognitive abilities in the TARDIS's. The type-580 had the highest amount of autonomy ever present in a TARDIS. Maybe a bit too much, but toward the end of the war they'd all just start disappearing. We all knew why. The war was wrong, and the type-580 series was self-aware enough to leave while they could. We all assumed they'd just die off without our maintenance, but here's the bus proving me wrong."

The bus beeped again, looking somewhat satisfied with itself.

"Odds are it'd been in the Time Vortex for centuries to escape the war. That's why my TARDIS only just now locked onto it. It just came back into sync with the rest of reality."

"Fascinating." said Frizzle. The Doctor smiled wistfully despite himself.

"Who knows, maybe there may be even more of them out there. Even more TARDIS's in different shapes and sizes throughout the universe, waiting to be uncovered by the curious."

The Doctor turned his smile to her.

"You know, it's kind of nice being able to talk to someone who can grasp this stuff right away."

"What can I say? It interests me." Frizzle giggled.

Suddenly, the bus righted itself with a honk. Frizzle sat herself atop the hood and gave it a friendly pat. The Doctor joined her with a sigh, when suddenly she turned to him again.

"Have you ever considered being a teacher?" she asked.

"Once, a few centuries back. I opted to live in the junkyard next door instead." His look of nostalgia changed to one of confusion.

"Not sure why. Why? Is that what you are?"

Frizzle nodded, receiving another smile.

"Well, why don't I pop by sometime, let you teach me a few things?"

The two laughed, before a sudden laser blast whizzed by the bus. Standing up, they both turned to see Tybo and his comrades advancing on them yet again.

"No way!" said The Doctor; more irritated than anything else, "How'd you catch up to us so fast?"

"Our benefactors have provided us with a limited Emergency Temporal Shift."

The Doctor and Frizzle adopted faces of disbelief and confusion respectively.

"What's an Emergency Temporal Shift?" she asked.

"Short range time travel. Nasty, really bad for you. But the Shadow Proclamation doesn't have access to that sort of thing. Who gave that to you, Tybo?"

Looking straight faced at the Doctor for a moment, Tybo remained silent, before leveling his gun at the two humanoids. The Doctor and Frizzle raised their hands.

"You two will be taken into custody along with the TARDIS."

"On what charges?" The Doctor asked curiously, the wheels in his mind spinning.

"Obstruction of the law, aiding and abetting a criminal."

"But this women wasn't aware that she was obstructing anything!"

"You could still justify criminal negligence." Frizzle piped up, "But now that I've seen how you intend to treat this poor bus, I think I'll begin to oppose you purposefully."

The Doctor sighed.

"I respect that," he said, "but it's not helping!"

"Sorry."

The Doctor paused for a moment and then shrugged.

"Fine, be that way." he said to the Judoon, "But now about that ETS you've gone and made this too easy. Come on, Valerie!"

Before Frizzle could ask what was going on, The Doctor pulled her into the bus. They ran down to the Doctor's TARDIS and entered it, closing the door behind them just as the Judoon entered the bus.

"Now this," said Frizzle as she looked awestruck around the TARDIS, "is fascinating."

As she admired every inch of the console room, the Doctor put his focus on the controls.

"What's our plan?" asked Frizzle, "We aren't just gonna leave the bus are we?"

"No, of course not, don't be ridiculous." said the Doctor, before the console room suddenly shook. Frizzle grabbed onto a railing for support.

"Like I said earlier, the Judoon are really thick. They follow rules to the letter and in cases like these their code states that catching live fugitives takes precedent over items to confiscate."

Frizzle snapped her fingers, looking like a light bulb had just gone off in her head.

"So wherever we go, they'll follow us and leave the bus!"

"Bingo!"

Another shake rocked the room.

"And they said their Temporal Shift was limited, so-"

"SO, if we get them to follow us beyond the Shifts limits, say, a few centuries into the past-"

"We can strand them there and come back to the bus!"

"Like nothing ever happened, clever girl!"

The Doctor laughed and pulled up the consoles scanners as the room shook yet again.

"Take a look," he said as the screen transitioned from a platoon of perplexed Judoon aboard the bus, to a swirling vortex of color and lightning and everything Frizzle could ever imagine.

"What is that?" she asked.

"The time vortex." said the Doctor in giddy excitement.

"It's everything, everywhere, everywhen. Look, there's us a minute ago. And you and theJudoon, a couple hours back. Let's speed things up a bit shall we?"

The Doctor pulled a lever and the shaking stopped. He took Frizzle's hand and ran to the TARDIS door. Opening it, the two saw a quiet, grassy plain, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

"Scotland," said a The Doctor, "1792. Can't wait to see the look on their faces when-"

There was another sudden sound, as the Judoon platoon suddenly appeared around them. Tyboheld what Frizzle assumed to be the Emergency Temporal Shift in his hands. It sparked and theJudoon dropped it in surprise, before slowly looking up at the two of them, eyes full of the utmost rage at this trickery.

"And there it is!" said the Doctor, pulling Frizzle back into the box and closing the door as they were mercilessly fired upon.

"Sore losers." The Doctor muttered, "I'll be sure to remember to go back and pick them all up, eventually."

He sighed and reached for the controls. Before he could however, he saw Frizzle standing over them and pressing buttons, pulling levers to her hearts content.

"What're you doing?" he asked incredulously.

"Ooh, taking us back to the bus." Frizzle answered.

"But you can't use those controls, step away from them, before you accidentally land us onMustafar or something!"

Suddenly there was the landing sound, and The Doctor paused before rushing to the door. Opening it, he found that they were back inside the bus. He checked his watch as if to confirm it was the same date they'd left, before turning slack jawed over to Frizzle.

"How'd you do that!?" He asked her in amazement

"Whatever do you mean?"

"How'd you pilot us?"

"Oh. I watched you."

"You...watched me? That's it?"

"Essentially," Frizzle exclaimed explaining to the man, "I drove the bus for a bit before you arrived. Then I saw how you handled it, how you handled your own TARDIS, and I just picked up on the similarities. It's surprisingly simple."

The Doctor remained silent as he stepped out if the bus, not even shaken as it gave a pleased beep. Frizzle followed him outside and he turned to her.

"Oh look,' she said, pointing to the horizon, "sunrise."

"Valerie Frizzle," he said suddenly, "you are a stone cold genius."

Frizzle gave a smile and a dismissive wave, before patting the bus again.

"That sure was an adventure." she said, making the Doctor giggle at how calmly she took the whole affair. It was like nothing fazed her.

They stood in silence for a while longer before Frizzle frowned and turned to the Doctor.

"Are you going to take her now? The bus, I mean."

The Doctor remained silent, thinking on it. Frizzle took the opportunity to continue.

"I understand if you are, she's a remnant of your people. But-"

"Keep her."

"...What?"

The Doctor walked up to Frizzle and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"I do not meet human beings like you often, Valerie Frizzle, especially not in America. You're a rare gem, and it's obvious the bus likes you. I'd be honored to call you my peer in the time-space-travel-business."

Suddenly, the bus beeped again, and a small compartment opened on it. Sticking out of it was a key.

The Doctor grinned, while Frizzle looked for once like she didn't know what to say.

"That'd be yours." said the Doctor. "A TARDIS is a fickle thing. Once it's decided it likes you, it won't let you go."

Frizzle hesitantly went into the bus, grabbed the key and pulled it out. She sat in the driver'sseat, placed the key in its slot, and listened as the sound of engines began.

"Thank you.' she whispered.

She then turned to the Doctor, who was opening up his own TARDIS, as if to leave.

"And thank you, Doctor. For showing me just how much of the universe I can explore."

The Doctor smiled, yet seemed incapable of saying anything in response. Instead, he flashed athumbs up and entered his box. Frizzle didn't take her eyes off it for a moment as it dematerialized.

And here she was again, in 1955, watching that same man in that same spot with that same smile.

"Tell me," she said, "Are things always like this with you?"

The Doctor chuckled.

"Hopefully." he said.

Suddenly, the comm device rang. The Doctor picked up, to hear the voice of Dorothy Ann.

"Good ol' DA, what's the news?"

"We think we have our lead on the DinoBots."

The Doctor and Frizzle grinned, exiting the bus as they went meet up with their students. Frizzle gave the bus a pat and they took off.

AN: Hooray for even LONGER chapters. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, but this whole chapter seems to have more words then the other characters combined. Not sure why I decided to include the Judoon of all things in this story. Anyway, those who've finished series 5 of Doctor Who know that the Judoon play a very small part in the series finale, and the bits with the Emergency Temporal Shift were meant to allude to the Alliance. I may build on that more later.

Aside from that, I'm not too sure how I feel about the dialogue in this chapter. I wanted to balance exposition, natural dialogue, and building the relationship between The Doctor, Frizzle and The Bus. So tell me how I did on that.