Episode 6 - Fixed Points

This story begins with the first time I ever played with a fixed point in time.

Fixed points are tricky. They are, by nature, moments observed and known by many beings, such to the point that trying to completely change what happened is problematic and may result in little things like, oh, the collapse of space-time throughout an entire cosmos.

But there is wiggle room. Whether it's a man riding a disguised futuristic bipedal ship during the moment of his appointed death or something simple like, say, retrieving someone fated to die in an explosion, there are ways to change the actual outcome of a fixed point without necessarily altering that fixed point's facts.

Tricky, but doable.

The girls and I stepped out of the TARDIS into what appeared to be a city in California. It was night time and people were out and about. "Well well, let's see what's special about this place," I said to them.

"Doesn't look very different from other Earths of this time period," Camilla remarked. "I thought you said the TARDIS was picking up unique energy sources?"

"It is." I looked around a bit more and saw nothing unusual as we came up to an intersection.

"Okay, that looks different," I heard Janias say. I turned to face the same direction.

Down the way, towering over the city skyline and a park area, was a structure not built to 21st Century standard design. It resembled a plunger switch or perhaps a twist top nut bolted to a half-circle rising from the ground. It was certainly not something I'd expected to see.

Written along the top of the structure was the following: suprahuman treatment wing. Yes, in lower caps, don't complain to me as I'm just the bloody witness.

"Oi, not where I was looking to go," I muttered.

"You've heard of this cosmos?", Janias asked.

"Yes, of course. Remember that nice bloke we ran into a few weeks ago on a world like this? Wore his red undies on the outside, big 'S' on the chest?"

"Yeah."

"Imagine a world like his, but almost all of the superpowered beings act more like teenagers on a power trip," I replied. "Bloody bastards even created a supervolcano in the middle of a major North American city."

"It sounds like we should leave," Camilla remarked.

"Agreed, we probably should," I said. "Just don't run. I don't want one of those bloody power-mad capes bothering us. Come..."

I noticed a red streak overhead. It didn't look like a controlled aircraft so I pulled my viewing glass out of my pocket. It looked like a one-eyed viewing glass from some sailing ship but, well, that was trickery. It rapidly tracked the direction my eyes were focused on and spotted the source of the red light. Namely, a giant space station shaped like, of all things, a ten-sided die.

"Oh my... I know when we are too."

Something in my head clicked. I knew there was a young woman up on that station who was about to die, who would leave behind a very distraught loved one and, well, the rest is spoilers.

In case you haven't noticed or didn't know to notice, this cosmos is a rather more obscure one, being the home cosmos of a young struggling superheroine known as "Empowered". I was rather familiar with it. And, I think, that familiarity sparked an intent to act on my part.

The issue was that this was a fixed point with very little wiggle room and that changing things too greatly could have a detrimental impact on events to come over the following weeks. This gave me a very narrow margin of error in an actual rescue and meant I'd have to bring the girl ahead to a later point.

In retrospect, the risk I took was probably foolhardy. But I was easily swayed by such impulses when I was younger.

I reached into my pocket and gripped the TARDIS control. "Stand beside me," I said to my Companions. They stayed close as I materialized the TARDIS around us. Once the materialization was done we were in the TARDIS control room. I went right for the controls. "Camilla, get on the stabilizers, this must be precise!", I shouted. "Janias, as soon as we materialize, open the door and pull the person on the other side in with the Force. Under no circumstances can you leave the TARDIS, you will get killed."

Janias nodded. "I understand."

"Okay ladies, tally ho!" I pulled back the control lever and shifted the TARDIS.

The VWORP VWORP VWORP was soon disrupted by a steady shaking. Janias pushed the doors to the TARDIS open, revealing a small chamber marked as containing a now-inactive emergency teleporter. A young blonde woman was in a black and light purple suit with some red trim visible. She wasn't paying attention to us. Granted, only I knew this as none could see her eyes - or lack thereof - behind the black and red sight visor.

Janias reached her arm out and yanked the woman in. I snapped my fingers as the girl cleared the entrance and hit the dematerialization lever at the same time.

The TARDIS was suddenly thrown out from under us. Flames licked through the closing door; Janias barely got the woman she'd rescued out of the way of the inferno as it lashed into the TARDIS control console, sending sparks flying as the concussive force behind the flames slammed into them. Sparks erupted from other parts of the console as the damage knocked out every control on the side facing the door... and then some. "Doctor, I can't change anything!", Camilla shouted, holding on to the control center because the alternative was going face-first into the ground.

"We've lost several control systems, I'm trying to take us out of the Time Vortex!"

Now, I'm sure everyone remembers the last time I had to pull the TARDIS out of the Vortex in a pinch? Sure you do. We crashed into a building filled with zombies.

This time it was even worse.

Well, okay, the landing wasn't. I'd gotten more skilled in piloting the TARDIS in three-dimensional space and the damage to the controls wasn't so severe I couldn't bring us in for a very rough, very nasty landing. I'll explain how things were worse in a bit.

We all picked ourselves up from the ground upon the landing. All, well, save the young lady we'd rescued. I went over with my sonic as soon as I saw Janias could not rouse her. I ran the sonic over her still form. "Bump on the head and a very mild concussion. I'll want to get her to a good doctor as soon as we can, but until then I think she'll be okay."

"Do you know her name?", Janias asked.

"Hannah," I answered. "Well, her nom de cape - or "supranym" - is something... rather vulgar, through no fault of her own."

"Oh?"

I let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Mindf**k."

That got me a surprised stare. "So...it's like... the Earth version of 'Mindkriff'?"

"Yes," I sighed. "And no, I'm not going to repeat it. I swear, that world is just wrong..."

"Uh, Doctor?"

I looked over to where Camilla was standing at the doorway and looking out. I walked up beside her and looked out myself. We were in a devastated urban area with gray, overcast clouds above us. As I emerged from the TARDIS my Time Lord senses made me feel queasy. Something was dreadfully wrong with space-time at this point, like it had been warped by a massive power source. "This is definitely not good," I muttered, wondering what had caused this devastation and how long it'd be before the TARDIS was repaired enough to leave.

There was a burst of sheer power above us and I looked to see the upper half of a torn-off office building vaporized in a burst of flames. Laughter filled the air and I felt my stomach twist as I recognized it and the figure moving into view behind the TARDIS. I looked on the red lips and white face and knew what it was even before I took in the rest of the view.

"Oh bugger," I remember saying.

Suddenly the zombies were vastly preferable.

"Doctor, what is it?", Camilla asked.

"Walpurgisnacht," I answered in a hiss. "It's bloody Walpurgisnacht!"

Allow me to explain the situation for those unfamiliar with these things.

First off, Walpurgisnacht is, yes, German, and it generally means Witches' NIght, or rather a major Witches' gathering.

Well, actually, it's in reference to the Eighth Century Christian Saint Walpurga, associated with May Day as the day of her canonization, and the further fact that the prior day is April 30th; half a year before All Hallow's Eve (aka Halloween) and thus a day replete with potential symbolism. Like, say, a night devoted to a gathering of witches.

There. Now I've made you smarter. Or saved you a wikipedia trip. Bit of a tossup.

Anyway, in this case, it is the name given to a massive city-wrecking entity that might very well be composed of multiple "witches". My emphasis on that "city-wrecking" part.

Now, I wouldn't have been surprised if this thing had leveled cities other than Mitakihara. But given my luck? No, this was going to turn out to be Mitakihara.

Janias stepped out and followed our gazes. "Just what is that thing?!"

"It's a composite entity made up of the despair-crushed souls of an untold number of adolescent girls," I answered matter-of-factly. "They call them witches in this cosmos. Oh, and, it levels cities."

"I miss the zombies," Janias sighed.

"As do I. And that's not the worst of it." I moved past them and back into the TARDIS. The controls facing the door were still out of commission so I had to move around the control column. "Please, please, I just need three..." I let out a sigh, seeing the display showed that the TARDIS engine was completely out of commission. We wouldn't be going anywhere. "Of course, that's down too. We can't move."

"Wait, can you go back?", Camilla asked. "Back to 'not the worst of it'?"

I put a hand in my hair. "Yes. Unfortunately, we have two possibilities, neither of them good. Either a young lady will be initiating a time loop very soon, leaving us dealing with a potential forced quantum convergence, or another young lady will be using a massive, simply stupendous amount of temporal energy to literally rewrite history and completely alter this timeline, effectively giving birth to a new universe. The problem is... the TARDIS has timestream-stabilizing capabilities that may interfere with either of these eventualities, and even if it doesn't interfere, we might end up on the wrong end of a convergence or universe re-write unless we get out of here."

"And being at the wrong end of those means... what?"

"Poof, my dear Janias." I made my hands explode outward to emulate a puff of dust expanding. "We go poof." I double-checked my settings on the TARDIS. "It's going to take half an hour, minimum, just to get basic flight back up. Okay, no time for panicking..."

"'Poofing' out of existence sounds like a good time to panic!", Janias shouted.

"Yes, so... we hold off whatever happens until we can leave." I snapped my fingers. "That's the only way. Only... that means interfering in what feels to be a major fixed point in time."

"Yet you said a girl is going to do that?"

"Yes, but she's going to be inserting herself into other moments on a simply massive scale that changes everything in this timeline. A bit higher on the order there." I sighed. "Okay, let's do some..."

"Uh, Doctor... someone's attacking that thing."

I swallowed. "Do you see any pink energy arrows?"

That got me a bewildered look from Janias. "Uh no. It looks like... bombs."

"Ah." I pulled out my looking glass and brought it up to face Walpurgisnacht. Sure enough there was a purple dot swirling about it, one that took the form of an adolescent girl with sweeping raven hair as I zoomed in, darting around the maniacal upside down wind-up dancing doll and throwing explosives at it. She disappeared from the viewing glass and prompted my view to zoom out... and promptly re-appeared on the other side of the thing, chucking another bomb. "Ah, there you are. Still rolling that boulder uphill, aren't you Homura? Amazing the things that people endure for love." I put the looking glass up. "Okay, so... I still have no idea which bad outcome this is so I'm going to need to find her and find the other one. Above all else, we must make sure they try nothing until the TARDIS can leave."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"I'm not sure, I'm working..."

Before I could finish my sentence, a bolt of energy lashed out from Walpurgisnacht and slammed into the ground below us... or rather the badly damaged remnant high rise below us. The ground began to give out under my feet. I cried out from surprise and tried to balance myself but it was to no avail; the ground literally dropped out from under me. I was suddenly falling to my death.

"Doctor!" Janias was at the edge and extending her arm downward. I felt my fall slow greatly as she gripped me with the Force.

I was about to call out in gratitude but when I looked up I could see that the floor beneath Janias was giving away entirely from the damage. "Get back in the TARDIS!", I shouted.

"I won't let you go!"

"The entire floor is going to give away! Get back in the TARDIS now, it's the only way for you to survive!"

I could see the aggravation in Janias' face. "But..."

"Even if it kills me, I'll just regenerate into a new body. You can't! Now LET! ME! GO!"

I could see, just barely, Camilla's hand appear on Janias' shoulder. Janias' arm pulled up.

And I was in freefall again. Thankfully I had looked downward just before it happened and saw safety; an outcropping remnant of what looked to be the tenth floor. I flattened my arms against my sides and curled my legs to try and steer toward it. At the last moment I reached out with my left arm to grab the outcropping, which I managed to do successfully. A cry erupted from my throat at the sudden pain in my shoulder; I really should have tried to grab with both arms. But, well, I frankly did not want to be regenerating today. Not in these circumstances, certainly; regeneration sickness would be pretty fatal to our hopes of avoiding "poof". And honestly, if my body went splat too strongly... then I would probably be too damaged to regenerate, which was always a possibility.

Unfortunately, the outcropping taking the sudden burden of my weight had aggravated a break in the structure from, well, getting gutted by a living avatar of collective despair. I could see it was going to give away any second and looked downward to see if I had another option.

As it turned out, I did, as an adjacent building had been toppled and pressed against what was left of this one, forming a slide that began just three stories down. Three. Agonizing. Stories.

So the outcropping failed and I let out a habitual cry of, well, i suppose the sentiment was "Dammit I'm in freefall again!" if it was more of a "AAAAAHHHHH!". I tried to make sure I landed in a roll and I think I succeeded... partially. I didn't have any sprained ankles or broken kneecaps at least, so I had successfully distributed the impact widely enough to avoid a crippling injury. No, instead I had evenly distributed the pain to my entire body.

Hallelujah.

And I still had to roll seven stories down. My ribs, my arms, my face, and about every other part were lining up in my head, demanding attention to their bumps and bruises, but I ignored it for the moment because I was too busy trying to make sure I wouldn't impale myself against debris or slam my head into the ground when my impromptu playground fun ended. At the end of the slide was a six foot drop straight down that I couldn't avoid; I ended up on wrecked asphalt, my suit a mess and my body aching like... okay, like it had just fallen at least fifteen stories and barely survived.

When several moments passed and I found I could breathe, that my hearts were intact, and that I didn't feel that pin-and-needle sensation of regeneration... I felt like passing out anyway because at least regeneration doesn't bloody hurt like that. As much as time was a luxury I didn't have, my body was prepared to go into open revolt if I continued to move.

I don't remember if I blacked out or not or just hovered at the fringe of unconsciousness. I just remember laying there for a time and a shadow suddenly moving over my sight. A high pitched voice asked, "Do you need any help, sir?"

The voice sounded very familiar.

A head moved into my vision. Pink eyes, pink hair with unbraided pigtails held in place by pink ribbons, and a schoolgirl outfit. But mostly pink. Of course.

"I fell off a building, young lady," I groaned. Several body parts protested as I sat up. My left shoulder hurt so badly that I realized it was dislocated. I wedged it up against the debris and forced it back into place with a cry of pain; for a brief moment I forgot the rest of the pain in my body due to that bright flaring pain in my shoulder, but as it faded the other body parts could be heard once more.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, bright as rain, bright as rain. You should try falling off a building sometime, it's rather fun..." I blinked and drew in a breath that had, yes, pain. Have I mentioned the pain yet? Of course I have. Just checking.

My face twisted into a wince and a scowl. "...actually, no, I'm lying. It's not very fun, it's rather a bother and I'm in quite a bit of pain right now." I looked back to the building. There was no sign of the TARDIS. I held onto my TARDIS key and tried to summon her but nothing came of it; it was either the damage or the sheer level of interference that Walpurgisnacht was putting out.

"The shelter is this way, I can lead you back to it," the girl offered.

I'm quite sure any of you familiar with the setting know who this girl was, so you're probably asking why I haven't identified her by name yet. The answer is... dramatic license, alright? I am an amateur writer you know.

"That begs the question of why you're not in it, Miss...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Madoka Kaname."

I blinked. Shouldn't that have been Kaname Madoka? Then again, Gift of the TARDIS and all that, maybe the TARDIS was simply following the fact that I thought of the character as named "Madoka Kaname" while in another example... I had always thought of Nerys as "Kira Nerys".

"Charmed to meet you, Madoka. I'm the Doctor."

She tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Shouldn't you have a real name?"

Well, yes, I should, but an unknown force (well, unknown at the time; can't tell you what it was at this point in my narrative, that'd be spoilers) locked it down in my head so that trying to think of my name gives me a spltting headache. I didn't say that aloud, of course. I didn't want to confuse the poor girl any further.

"Don't have another one now," I answered truthfully... from a certain point of view.

"So why are you called the Doctor?"

In a moment of surprising, agony-induced clarity, I answered, "Because I'm an arrogant idiot who's in way over my head."

By this point the pain had receded slightly. I felt up for trying to navigate this pulverized urban wasteland. "Madoka, show me that shelter. You need to get to safety."

"Well, okay..." I could see she was out here for a reason. But this was clearly not the final loop if she was so willing to turn around; the Madoka of that loop would have been far more likely to have gone on.

Of course, that meant that we still had the risk of "poof" if Homura came to the point of hitting the reset button. But I was hoping that by delaying Madoka's inevitable meeting with a certain cuddly and very soulless being, it would also delay Homura's decision to try again and give the TARDIS time to repair.

I could only hope my Companions had gotten to the TARDIS. They might be roughed up inside but they would at least survive.

This was one of those situations where I couldn't afford to broaden my concerns. I had to deal with problems as they came. Keep Madoka away from Kyubey, hope Homura didn't decide to reset the loop, and hope the TARDIS repaired enough that I could summon it even inside Walpurgisnacht's barrier field. Two too many "hope" items on that list for me, but I could only do so much at this point.

I took Madoka's hand and gave her a pained smile before letting her lead me down the ruined street.

For the purposes of a proper narrative that explains how everything came together, I must now change to a third person perspective so as to follow what my dear Companions were up to when I decided to try my hand at Extreme Falling and Tumbling. If you are curious as to how I can do this with any accuracy... well, we did talk about it after the fact and I have some security measures in the TARDIS for intruders. I was able to piece together a fairly accurate picture.

Camilla had convinced Janias to let me drop. They ran into the TARDIS just as the platform they were on started to shudder. Janias secured Hannah while Camilla found a strap to hold onto.

And then the TARDIS began to fall and tumble. It was still active enough to not be too damaged by the fall but it was, I imagine, still a terrifying and punishing experience as it plummeted several stories. From what they told me it almost landed on its side before making a final spin and smacking against a fallen piece of building to become upright again.

When the shaking was over they picked themselves up off the floor. "Are you okay?", Janias cried out.

"I'm alive, that's good enough," Camilla answered.

They got to their feet and embraced each other. Janias asked the obvious question. "What do you think happened to the Doctor?"

So nice of her to think of me.

"He's fine, I'm sure of it." Camilla's reassurance of my health was perhaps overly optimistic even if it proved accurate. But undoubtedly she was already focusing on the needs of the situation and wanted to reassure Janias on the issue. "We have to get the TARDIS fixed."

"Uh... how? Even the Doctor usually just lets it repair itself," Janias pointed out. "What we need to do is find these girls that the Doctor says are going to make us go 'poof'."

"We can't just leave the TARDIS, though," Camilla pointed out. "We don't have one of the keys to summon it."

"We can find it after we..."

At that point my Companions were interrupted by the sound and rattle of something thudding against the TARDIS, something with enough speed and mass to make it shake. They stepped out of it and found an adolescent girl nearly unconscious beside it. Long dark hair, dark blue eyes, and a disc on her left arm.

Had I been there I would have immediately told them it was Homura. But they had no clue who she was. So they took her inside the TARDIS. She didn't resist, being rather battered, and barely showed consciousness while Camilla ran a medical scanner over her. "She's got a broken leg," she said to Janias, looking at her. "Can you...?"

"I've been practicing, yeah." Janias smirked. "Thanks to the Doctor I've had plenty of opportunities." She bent over and put her hands over the break. Janias focused on it with the Force, moving the break to set it.

Ordinarily this would have been excruciating, but one of the advantages of being a mahou shoujo - that's "magical girl" for those of you who don't know Japanese or are too lazy to check TVTropes or Wikipedia - is that they are detached from their bodies and no longer actually feel pain. In a way, they become, oh, what was the term? Oh yes, liches. Just more adorable.

Yes, I said adorable, I know better than to use other terms you perverted loli fetishists. Oi, and you lot wonder why Otaku get such a bad wrap sometimes.

"She's not making a sound," Camilla said in surprise. "And I haven't given her any painkillers."

Janias looked up. "What's that? I feel something cold."

Camilla followed her beloved's eyes to look at the back of Homura's left hand and the soul gem she kept there in its battle form. It was a purple gem normally full of luster but, at this point, it was darkened at the bottom end. "What's that dark stuff?"

"Unh." At this point Homura started to awaken. She looked up at my Companions and to the TARDIS around her. "Where have you taken me?", she asked in an insistant voice.

"You're on the TARDIS," Janias answered. "It's... a kind of ship, and it's a pocket dimension that's bigger on the inside."

Apparently Homura's response was an almost nonplussed "Oh." "It won't matter. I'm too hurt to continue fighting, I have to go back to the beginning again."

"The beginning?"

Camilla was already looking intently at her. Undoubtedly she'd figured out what Homura meant given the context and so grabbed her hand as it reached for the disc. "Listen, it's not smart to do that here," she said. "The Doctor said the TARDIS will interfere with the time loop."

Homura's head snapped over to face Camilla. "How do you know about that?"

"The Doctor knows a lot, I'm not sure how he does it," Janias answered. It was truthful since I hadn't quite made clear just how much of the Multiverse, and the places we visited, were places I knew as fiction. "He said something about, well, the TARDIS being..." Janias looked to Camilla, clearly seeking her lover's better grasp of things.

"The TARDIS has the effect of stabilizing the timestream whenever and wherever it is present," Camilla answered. "It might ruin your loop."

A sharp outlet of breath came from Homura, irritation in its purest form. "Then we need to get your ship out of here."

"We will as soon as it's repaired," Janias remarked. "But it's still taking a while."

"Why are you looping time anyway?", Camilla asked. "The Doctor never said."

"I'm trying to defeat Walpurgisnacht."

"You're not telling us the truth," Janias remarked.

As it turns out, having a soul gem isn't enough to fool even a Jedi Padawan.

The response that prompted was a cold reply. "My reasons are my own and are none of your concern."

"They are if it means you'll start that time loop before we leave."

They glared at each other for several moments, an interesting image given Janias was a bit taller than Homura. "You're afraid that my power would work and that resetting this loop would harm you," Homura said. "You have as much to lose, then. You may even be lying to me."

"We're not," Janias insisted.

"Would you want to risk it?", Camilla asked, stepping in. "Whatever your purpose is, it's important enough that you're looping time over it. And if it's that important, do you want to risk it with the TARDIS here?"

There was silence from Homura on the matter. Janias let out a sigh and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, let's see how we can get the TARDIS fixed so we can find the Doctor. Then you can loop time to your heart's content."

It was a good idea on their part, but it would have complications on my end of things.

My body was still aching as I followed Madoka through the ruined streets of the city. The ruins around us were as depressing as the overcast skies. Ahead I could see rain and wind whipping, undoubtedly the barrier.

"Madoka, why are you out in the city like this?", I asked, curiosity compelling me.

"Oh. I was worried about my friend Sayaka. She wasn't at the shelter and I thought I might find her."

I nodded and swallowed. Undoubtedly her fate was the same it usually was; falling into Kyubey's vice and transformation into a witch. "I'm sorry you didn't find her. What you did took much bravery."

"I just don't want her to get hurt." Madoka looked back at me. "Why are you here?"

"I'm a traveler and I'm afraid I got caught by this... thing."

"Oh. You mean the storm. It's pretty bad, I've never seen one like it."

"It's more than a storm, I can say that," I remarked. But I said no more as we continued on.

I was mentally counting down the time, hoping to get the half hour through and see if I could summon the TARDIS. But we weren't quite there when that terrible laugh split the air. Madoka let out a cry of fright as the shadow came over us. Walpurgisnacht was looming behind us and moving on. Right for the shelter, I'd say.

"What... what is that?", she asked in fright.

"A very nasty being at the center of this storm," I explained. "Quick!" Despite my body's protests of pain I grabbed Madoka by the arm and pulled her into a ruined storefront. We hid in the shadows as the massive beast flew overhead.

Madoka's eyes tracked it. "It's heading to the shelter! We have to stop it!"

"Not bloody likely...", I muttered. She twisted free of my grasp and ran toward the street, forcing me to give chase. "Don't! You can't face that thing!"

"Hey! Over here!" She started jumping in place, trying to get the creature's attention. As I caught up she kept doing it.

I looked up and saw that it had stopped. The thing spun on its upper gear and came about to face us. I heard a small whimper come from my guide; she was starting to regret her heroics.

I did the only thing I could do. I brought up the sonic screwdriver. It started scanning actively, looking for some kind of frequency, some kind of vulnerability.

When I saw a blur appear from the thing I grabbed Madoka and jumped, just in time to prevent a multicolored stream from smashing into us. "I think you got its attention," I grumbled. "Time to run!"

I didn't dare return to a building as I suspected we would be easily crushed. I led her into a nearby alleyway and down toward the other end. I heard a rush of air behind us and turned in time to see the "circus doll" constructs that Walpurgisnacht loved to throw out coming for us. I brought up the sonic screwdriver and sent out a general disruption pulse. When it did nothing I forced Madoka down and tried to get low myself. One struck me along the upper back anyway, sending me sprawling. I picked myself up and saw one of them going for Madoka as she tried to stand. I triggered the sonic again. This time it popped out of existence. "There we go!", i called out. "Let's keep going!"

We went into the next street and on to the next alley. I glanced behind us to see Walpurgisnacht was ever so slowly hovering our way, like it was uncertain of which way it wanted to attack.

As we rounded a corner and hid against an another abandoned building I felt a subtle whisper in my head. I drew in a breath. "Janias."

"Who?"

"A friend of mine," I answered. I closed my eyes for a moment to concentrate and, hopefully, get an update.

To switch perspectives yet again...

On the other end, Janias was standing at the door to the TARDIS and focusing. Doctor! You're okay?!

Okay, no, but unregenerated and alive, yes. Well, for the moment. I've got a despair gestalt entity stalking me and Madoka across the city.

Who?

I let Madoka's face filter through our mental link. One of the girls I talked about... never mind. Is the TARDIS ready yet?

Janias looked back to Camilla who was busy tinkering with the TARDIS controls. She gave a confused shrug. "I think some of the systems are back, but not all."

I had already heard Camilla's words through the mental link. We'll just keep running then. Hopefully this thing will not be too concerned with... Bugger! Gotta go!

"Doctor!", Janias cried out, even as she thought the same. "He's running for his life with some pink-haired girl.."

That was apparently the thing to jolt Homura out of her cold distance. "He's with Madoka?"

"That's the name."

"Then I need to go." Homura limped up to the exit of the TARDIS, at least until Janias got in the way. "Move."

"You've got a broken leg, you're in no condition to fight," Janias said.

"I don't feel pain," Homura informed her bluntly. "I have to protect Madoka."

"Even if it doesn't hurt, your body can only take so much punishment," Camilla pointed out.

Janias looked at her for a moment, gently reaching out through the Force. "She's very important to you. Important enough to get yourself stuck in time loops?"

"I don't need to answer that." Homura slipped past Janias and lifted off into the air.

"Sometimes I wish Jedi could fly," Janias lamented. She stopped that thought and tried to focus on me again. But she found I wasn't able to receive, given I had become terribly busy.

In the meantime, I was running hard enough that my hearts were almost bursting. Having a city-crushing abomination against nature pursuing you slowly does that.

"Can't you do something about it?", Madoka asked, on the verge of running out of breath from the way it sounded.

"Not with the tools at hand," I answered. How did one defeat this thing? In all of the timelines only Madoka had. My leading theory was that the multi-layered spinning aura around Walpurgisnacht was actually a force shield of some kind, one capable of resisting a lot of force... unless applied in the kind of piercing energy that might come from, say, a young magical girl's energy arrows. So what could I do?

We rounded a corner and I turned back long enough to disintegrate another gaggle of the black-sparkling circus familiars. "Won't these things ever run out?"

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

There was a pleading look in her eyes that got me to thinking. Now if I'd had the TARDIS, the power in the Time Vortex might be used to power a weapon that could wreck this thing. Of course, in the process I'd be completely messing up the loopy timeline of this cosmos and quite possibly cause Time to go "crunch". But how could I tell Madoka that? How could I make her understand that the only thing I was doing was buying time so I could leave and let things take their course?

Hadn't I just acted to save Mindf... Hannah, in spite of the fixed point of her demise? Why couldn't I do that here? Was it worth Madoka Kaname's life to see that original ending come about? Maybe I could come up with something better?

For all my senses told me "No, do not change this"... that wasn't an option I felt I could live with. I had to pull a Sam Vimes. I had to try something, anything, to save this innocent girl and her devoted Homura from the fate the wretched Incubators had caused them.

I'd claimed the mantle of the Doctor and I had to bloody well accept what that meant, even if it meant risking everything against this titan of human woe.

I scanned the buildings around us to see if there was anything of use. "I need a satellite dish," I murmured. "Something that can focus energy."

"Um... would the TV station's dish have what you need?" Madoka pointed down the street. "It's to the right, two streets down."

"Yes, yes it would. Come along!" I took off in a run just as a dark shadow loomed overhead.

"It's after us!", Madoka cried.

"That's why we're running! Time to put that physical education course to good use!"

So said the man who used to be horrid at class PE on account of his weight. At least I didn't have to worry about that anymore, being in a lanky new Time Lord body and all.

We went around the corner just in time for a new series of familiars to come for us. I turned to raise my sonic screwdriver up to deal with them. Before I could I heard the thunder of an automatic weapon. Bullets tore through the constructs.

"Are you the Doctor?"

I wasn't surprised when Homura dropped to the street in front of me. She almost lost her footing as she did so. "Homura Akemi, I presume," I remarked. "I am the Doctor, yes." I saw the way she was favoring her left leg. "How badly is that leg broken?"

My inquiry into her broken limb was ignored. "Get Madoka to safety."

"Good idea. And I'll throw in a better idea." I brought my screwdriver up. "Get that thing in front of the dish over there." I indicated the TV station's satellite dish. "I'm going to try something."

The reply I got was almost dismissive. "Do you think you can beat it?"

"I'll damn well try," I answered.

That got me a nod before she lifted off back into the air. I took Madoka in hand again and pulled her to the TV station. "They'll have generators on the premises," I said. "I need them put on maximum, so we need to find them."

I was answered by a nod. "I had a field trip here last year, I think I know where they are."

"Good. Show me."

We entered the abandoned building. It was lit up on the inside, confirming the onsite generators. Madoka led me through a door marked for authorized personnel only and into the basement of the property, past storage rooms and studios. We arrived in the generator room and I got to work. "Flip those red switches over there, and those, and those!" I took a side and flipped them too. "Okay..." I ran the sonic screwdriver over the monitor in the middle of the room. "All generators on... not nearly the power I want though. Wait..." Using the screwdriver as a remote control I shifted the screen to show me other information. "Oh yes! Underground power lines! And the city grid is still running through them! Oh, good show, Mitakihara infrastructure planners!"

"So can we beat it?", Madoka asked hopefully.

"We'll see. I need to go modify the satellite now."

I had briefly thought of telling her to stay in the building. But a thought occurred to me; at any time Kyubey might show up and start his sales pitch. I didn't need him bringing her into a contract behind my back. Not if I was going to save the situation.

When we left the building I saw that Homura had done her part, luring Walpurgisnacht into range. She was zipping in mid-air, avoiding everything from a chunk of building to more of those familiars, and unleashing every weapon she could in her arsenal. And all with a broken leg.

Walpurgisnacht versus Homura Akemi. Unstoppable Force meets Immovable Object. It was... inspiring.

And the motivation for that sheer determination, blissfully unaware of her part in it, stood beside me wondrous. "Why do I feel like I know her, Doctor?"

"Because you do, dear. Because she resets time over and over in a desperate bid to save you."

Okay, I didn't say that. I didn't want to scare Madoka at this critical juncture. "Because she has found something worth fighting an eternity for," I answered. "This time, she's got us to help. Come along!"

I led her out to the satellite dish. There was a ground control that was just low enough for Madoka to reach. "Watch that. When I give you a thumbs up, pull this lever. And stay low."

"Yes, Doctor!"

I smiled at her and nodded before going to the nearby ladder and pulling it over so I could climb up into the dish. I made sure to grab the safety rope as I did so and loop it around my shoulder. Once I did I had a rather difficult climb up the antenna in the center, forcing me to swing along like I was on monkey bars. My left shoulder protested vigorously and my right shoulder wasn't happy either given the sheer abuse I was suffering.

But after several agonizing minutes I made it. First I secured the rope's end to the antenna and let it fall to the ground, or at least to about six feet above the ground. When my escape route was ready I brought the sonic up and ran it over the internal circuitry to alter the signal emitters' angle. The dish would bounce the signal I was going to input into it back and forth a couple of times before the antenna transmitted it.

"Doctor, look out!"

I barely heard Madoka's warning. It was just in time for me to duck a familiar trying to attack me. I quickly raised my sonic and dispersed it.

I was suddenly sized by a memory. Hadn't the Fourth Doctor been forced to regenerate due to falling from a satellite dish? Not a good place to be, really.

I dismissed that thought from my mind, focusing on the bit of purple light playing over the cover of the antenna tip as I finished my alterations.

I held my arm up with a thumbs up. I looked down to see Madoka pull the lever. The dish began to tingle with energy and I knew I couldn't remain on the antenna. I grabbed the rope and went down it a short distance, just far enough for me to be clear. I pulled up my sonic and triggered a pulse.

Barely visible energy accumulated on the dish, bouncing back and forth from the antenna to the dish a few times in the course of microseconds. I shimmied down the rope as quickly as I could, a little too quickly as it turned out given I hit the ground hard enough that my knee exploded in pain despite my attempt to roll. Madoka came up to me out of concern but our attention was quickly diverted to the dish. A barely perceptible series of waves erupted from the tip of the antenna. Homura maneuvered away from it at the last moment, allowing the blast to strike Walpurgisnacht head on. The energy field around it shimmered and seemed to falter a little.

I heard a loud buzz start coming from the dish and grabbed Madoka's hand. "We need to run again. This way!" I led her away from the dish because I knew what the buzz meant. My knee protested enough that I figured I'd broken the kneecap but with the help of adrenaline I was able to ignore the pain. I was getting rather used to it, really.

As we fled, the buzz became a roar and then, well, BOOM. The dish overloaded from the sheer quantities of electricity I'd dumped into it. It didn't make a catastrophic explosion but the tip of the antenna did come apart in a blast of sparks, as did the control Madoka had used.

A moment later, the top of an office building crashed into the dish, going through it and into the TV station to wreck both. I grabbed Madoka and pulled her to the ground as the dust cloud and further debris rippled over us. As I went down I felt my back pelted by the debris. We both began to cough. As the dust cleared I looked up.

I saw the back of Walpurgisnacht as it continued on to the evacuation center. I pointed the sonic to it and ran as great a scan as I could from the distance, all the while wondering why I hadn't done more damage. The effect field of the blast had been as tight as I could make it, measured in just a foot or so. How did it resist that much energy when I know this thing can be defeated by Madoka on her own.

"Why didn't it work?", I grumbled. "Why didn't it work?!" Indeed, it hadn't even slowed the monstrosity down...

Madoka was looking around. "Where did Homura go?"

I turned my sonic and found an energy trace. Suspecting what it came from, I followed it back to the wreck of the destroyed dish and the carcass of the TV building. The ceiling was gone, ripped away, and we could see clearly to where the projectile had finally stopped inside the structure.

Homura's unconscious form was laid out beside it, half-buried under debris.

Madoka called her name again and we dashed to where she lay. The debris was a mix of weights; I let Madoka get the light stuff while I strained every bit of my battered muscles to get the heavy stuff. When we'd dug her out I found she was bloodied and battered. A quick check of her left hand showed her soul gem was intact, meaning she was still alive. I wasn't happy with the fact that about a third of it was pitch black now. She'd expended quite a bit of energy in this fight.

I ran the sonic over her body. "Broken ribs, broken left arm, left leg still broken, hairline fracture in the right leg, sounds light for having a building dropped on you." Or from falling for a building as I was rather convinced I had at least a fracture in one of my ribs at this point.

"Doctor, how can we stop it?", Madoka asked. "My family is at the center."

"I don't know, my dear. I honestly don't know." I brought the sonic up and checked the scan I'd run on Walpurgisnacht.

I saw the results and let out a breath. "Oh no, no no... of course." I put a hand to my forehead. "Of course. Bloody fool I am, I should have known."

"Known what, Doctor?", Madoka asked.

I swallowed and lowered my hand, feeling frustration and disappointment swell within me. "Quantum lock", I murmured. "A quantum lock. Bloody thing has a quantum lock on it. How did it get a quantum lock...?"

"What's a quantum lock?"

"It's... well, it can be anything, but it sort of.. it creates a state upon a thing. It's like how when a Weeping Angel sees someone looking at it then it turns to stone like a statue..."

Madoka's face betrayed her confusion. "And what's a Weeping Angel?"

I stopped at the interruption to consider the question. "Something that you'll never have to face, or rather I hope to God you never have to face." I felt a headache coming on. "Quantum locks can be used as defensive mechanisms. In this case, Walpurgisnacht has a quantum lock on it that protects it from damage. It literally cannot be harmed by anything short of a temporal..."

At that point, everything clicked into place. There was only one being in this entire cosmos who was infused with temporal energy. Only one. And I was looking right at her.

One might wonder how she beat Walpurgisnacht in Timeline 1, but for one, we never saw proof that she did even if it was inferred by the fact that Homura survived despite being a normal girl. And even if she did, temporal energy is, well, it's temporal energy, it can be conducted in four dimensions even if not equally. With just a bit of the temporal energy being produced by Homura's constant time loops and directed entirely at Madoka, that first timeline's Madoka could have had enough energy to defeat it, although she clearly didn't survive the attempt. Later incarnations did "survive" because they had more temporal energy to spare... save of course that she expended so much energy in the process that she became a witch.

An interesting mechanic, that. Every girl who ever fought this thing either died or became a witch, and the energy released with that...

A gestalt entity that drew in the witch forms of every girl it defeated, completely unique amongst the witches of this cosmos. A being that could not be defeated and could only serve to cull the magical girls of the world. A being with a quantum lock.

I could think of only one thing in this world that would have the know-how, the sheer power, to develop such a being.

Before I could mutter that answer, I heard someone speak. "Oh my, and what do we have here?"

Ah, dramatic timing. Everything a writer could wish for.

The voice was high and child-like, but it sounded so... matter-of-fact. Emotionless. Alien.

Madoka and I turned to a ruined lump of what had been a conference table. Red eyes looked back at us.

Madoka. Homura. And now, I had the final player in this great dance.

A slight smirk came to my face as the meeting I'd been wondering about had finally come.

"Hello, Kyubey. I'm the Doctor."

Now I know you're champing at the bit to see my confrontation with the evil, dickish bunnycat - thank you very much Chuck of SFDebris - but I feel it necessary to again shift to my Companions to, if you will, set things up.

They were in the control center trying to do some manual repairs. I'd shown them a few tricks and Camilla, bless her heart, was trying to expand upon those. But it was not working well. She let out a cry as a shock made her hand go numb. "This is impossible! This thing is too complicated!"

"There's got to be something we can do to make it repair more quickly."

"I've tried everything. We're just going to have to wait."

"Stuff waiting!", Janias shouted. "The Doctor's out there and he's got that thing after him!"

"I can't think of what else we can do, Jan!"

"Then I'll just go out by myself and find him!" Janias turned to leave the TARDIS.

Except the TARDIS door was no longer open. And in front of it was standing, yes, the TARDIS hologram looking like Caterina. "Hello Janias, Camilla," she said with a thin smile. "So glad to meet you finally."

"Just who are..." Camilla undoubtedly remembered my telling her about meeting the TARDIS once. "You're the TARDIS, aren't you?"

"Yes," the hologram replied. "I'm really hurt right now and I can't see where the Doctor went."

"He's out in the city getting chased by some monster," Janias said.

"Oh." "Cat" frowned. "My poor Doctor, always taking risks. I'm trying to fix myself as quickly as I can. Can you help me?"

"I've been trying," Camilla sighed, holding up her shocked hand.

"I'll tell you what to do," the TARDIS answered. "First come to this station and..."

So... where was I? Oh yes. I was in pain, a lot of pain. My dislocated shoulder, even fixed, still hurt. My right kneecap was probably broken and at the very least badly bruised. I had a whole collection of bruises and scrapes from my tumble off the building and getting whacked by Walpurgisnacht's familiars. And now, despite all of that distracting pain, I had to match wits with Kyubey himself; an old being who had been manipulating Humanity for millennia.

I wasn't even sure I was supposed to be doing this. Fixed point in time and all... I could end up making things worse for everything if I caused the events to come in future loops to be undone.

We stood facing each other. I could see Kyubey's eyes shift to look at Madoka. "Madoka Kaname. You're the only hope for your family now. Only you can end this destruction."

"Destruction you caused," I accused, cutting him off before it could make a sales pitch for Madoka's soul.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes. "Walpurgisnacht isn't just some random outcome. You made it. You made it and put a quantum lock on it and sent it out into the world to cull magical girls by the bushel, destroying thousands of lives in the process."

"We have found that Walpurgisnacht makes for a very efficient way of collecting emotional energy, yes," it admitted. "We prefer other methods, though."

"Oh, I'm sure you do. Can't let your harvester over-reap the crop now, can you?" My voice dripped with venom. "I know what you are, Incubator."

"And just what are you, Doctor? My, such powerful emotions, and such a powerful form too. Hmm... but I sense there's more." Kyubey tilted its head slightly. "Your mind is all a jumble. It looks like somebody doesn't want you to know who you are."

I glared at the little beast. "Get out of my head."

"I don't need to be in your mind to see what's been done to you, Doctor. Would you like me to undo it? You can always make a contract with me."

A sudden mania came over me, becoming a laughing fit that hurt (given my bruised and damaged body that was no surprise). I think I may have actually scared Madoka a bit with it. However, the laughter actually felt good. There were actually tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard, blurring my vision of Kyubey. "You... offer me... a contract? What, do I suddenly look like an adolescent school girl?"

"Adolescent girls may be the best form of energy we've found, but you are a unique case. You have so much energy potential, Doctor. Just make a contract and I'll gladly restore your memories."

I laughed again. I couldn't believe this thing's sheer gall, trying to get me into a contract with it.

"I've got a better offer," I replied. "Dismantle Walpurgisnacht and leave Earth, never to return. No more witches."

"I'm afraid I don't see how that proposal provides for our needs, Doctor."

"I'll make it simple then. You do the deal..." I glowered. "...and I won't make you regret ever finding the planet Earth."

"Really, Doctor, a threat? I know you're not one to commit violence."

"For cruelty like yours, you'll find I might be willing to make an exception," I threatened.

Kyubey tilted its head again. "Cruel? We work to maintain the universe for all beings."

"Really? And how do you do that? You say the emotional energy lets you hold off entropy... but there are oh so many ways to interpret that." I snarled. "For instance, you can do things like keep other civilizations at low-energy states so they don't use more of it. That just goes so well with keeping your species on top, doesn't it? How many worlds do you harvest emotion energy from, Kyubey? Ten? A thousand? A million? Must be quite a lot if this method lets you actually forestall entropy. And all the while it keeps you at the top."

"I'm having trouble understanding your animosity, Doctor. We only do what is necessary to preserve our universe." Kyubey looked back to Madoka. "Madoka Kaname, only you can stop Walpurgisnacht. Even the Doctor agrees with that."

Madoka looked to me with uncertainty. "Is he telling the truth, Doctor?"

"Am I, Doctor?"

I swallowed, unwilling to answer. It was, indeed, the truth. My expanded senses could feel the temporal energy resonating within her. She could break the quantum lock. But I knew what the cost would be.

"He is, isn't he?" Madoka tugged at my jacket. "It's okay, I understand. It has to be me."

I dropped to my left knee - the uninjured one - and took her by the shoulders. "No. Listen to me. This is a trap, Madoka. This... this thing wants to turn you into a monster even worse. You can't..."

"But my mom and... and my dad and my little brother!", she cried. "And Hitomi! They're all going to die if I don't stop it!"

I closed my eyes and forced a breath out. How could I say otherwise? I couldn't stop Walpurgisnacht with what I had on hand. What could I say to this selfless young girl? How could I tell her that her parents were doomed anyway?

"Ah, I see," Kyubey said. "The Doctor is afraid that defeating Walpurgisnacht will turn you into a witch even more powerful. That could happen, of course. But it doesn't mean it will. You have enough power that you can easily destroy it and still have time to cleanse your soul gem."

"That won't happen and you bloody well know it!", I shouted.

"Oh? But how would you know that? It hasn't been tried before."

At that moment I realized the trap I'd been set in. The only way for me to say yes would be to admit to the loops, confirming what Homura was, and hope Madoka believed me and wasn't totally freaked out.

Before I could answer, Kyubey spoke up once more. "I thought so. You can't say for sure that it wouldn't work, can you Doctor?"

I shook my head. "Madoka, you can't trust this thing. All it cares about is accumulating energy. It will see your whole world burn to get what it wants."

Madoka looked between us, very agitated and confused. I'd built trust there, yes, but she was weighing that against the safety of her family and everything she loved. And I could see I was losing.

"Madoka, what do you want more than anything? I can give..."

"You shut up!", I howled in rage. "Shut your lying, manipulative..."

"Stop it! Just stop it!", she cried out. "I..." She stepped away. I could see it in her face; she wanted to just run away, run away and find somewhere to think.

"Madoka, don't go, please," I begged.

"You should do what you feel is right," Kyubey countered.

At that point, I lost my temper and pulled my sonic out to menace Kyubey with it. "I've heard just about enough out of you!"

Yeah, that was real smooth of me. The entire exchange had become a disaster, a battle I couldn't win.

Before I could do anything with the sonic Madoka turned and began to run away, undoubtedly frightened by the rage in my face. I turned and watched her go. "Wait, don't!" I moved to follow.

I'll give credit, the little bastard was quick. I took maybe three steps and suddenly I was tripping over Kyubey, landing hard on my knees. A flare of fresh pain erupted through my right leg. "Madoka, come back!", I cried out, but she vanished behind debris.

"I apologize, Doctor, I didn't intend to make you fall over like that."

I let out an angry groan. This thing could give lawyers lessons in twisting language. As I tried to stand I felt pain shoot through my right knee whenever too much weight went on it. There was no way I could catch up to Madoka, hobbled as I was.

"I really wish you would reconsider, Doctor. You have enough potential to get any wish..."

Before it could continue a lovely sound came to my ears. VWORP VWORP VWORP VWORP... the TARDIS materialized about ten yards away. Kyubey looked at it in interest. "A pocket dimension? You have such interesting things," it said.

The door opened and Janias stepped out. "Doctor!"

"Good to see you've got her going," I answered.

Kyubey walked up to and around Janias, studying her intently. She looked down at it with confusion. "Just what is this thing?"

"You're not even Human, how interesting," Kyubey said to her. "But you have a lot of power. If you make a contract with me..."

"Ignore the bloody thing", I shouted, favoring my knee as I tried to walk. "It's a trickster and a manipulator! Whatever you do, do not accept any contracts or agreements with it!"

A sigh came from the abomination as it bounded back to the wrecked conference table. "I really don't understand the hostility, Doctor."

"Really? After all of your time studying Humanity and other sentient life with emotions you fail to understand why someone would be appalled at what you do to the girls you manipulate?", I asked.

"We mean no harm. We are simply trying to preserve the universe." Kyubey focused its eyes on me. "Sometimes sacrifices must be made, like with Madoka. You know that she is the only one that can harm Walpurgisnacht. Homura Akemi will never be able to win that battle, no matter how often she resets time. It's futile."

I swallowed and lowered my head. I knew how this would ultimately end, of course... or at least how it should end if not for, well, meddling like mine. "How did you know about that?"

"I knew something was special about her already. It was a reasonable deduction given what you clearly know." Kyubey turned its head to look into the distance. "I really should be going, Madoka will be ready to make her wish very soon."

"If it moves, Janias, slice the damn thing in half with your lightsaber," I ordered. Looking back, it was a rather futile order, but I was truly being pushed to the limits of my patience with this thing. Which, looking back, was precisely what it had been aiming for. It might not know emotion itself, but it knew it in others... and how to use it.

And I was the idiot who decided to match wits with it when three quarters of my body was clawing at my attention from the pain it was in.

My order got me a look of utter shock on Janias' face. "Uh, Doctor...?"

Kyubey's attention was back on me. "It seems I have driven you to your limits, Doctor, if you're willing to order my destruction." Kyubey shifted its head slightly. "Shouldn't you be letting Madoka make her own choices? Who are you to her that you can make her decision for her?"

"Because you misled her. You and I both know she won't walk away from that fight without becoming a witch."

"Of course not," Kyubey admitted. "I told her so, but she didn't understand."

I felt the bile building within me. "You spout falsehoods under the guise of truth, using a turn of phrase and implication to make things sound true when they're not. You're a consummate liar!"

"I didn't lie."

"Oh, of course, not directly, you just twist everything so that the truth sounds like what you want it to instead of what it is," I charged.

"It's not my fault that mortal beings hear only what they want to hear." The response was as calm and emotionless as ever. "Or that they refuse to accept what is true. We both know Homura Akemi can never win. The quantum lock on Walpurgisnacht means only Madoka can defeat it, and it doesn't matter how often Homura loops through time. You can't defeat it either. It's Madoka's destiny to do that. She will become the greatest of all magical girls and the worst of all witches."

"You have no idea what her destiny truly is," I retorted. "Even if Homura can't break the lock, she can still stop you."

"How? Homura Akemi will never win this battle. We designed Walpurgisnacht to be immune to normal magical girls like her. Madoka is special. She has to become a magical girl if you're going to destroy it. Homura Akemi's only drawing her own suffering out if she keeps this time loop going. She should just give up."

"Now who's saying things they don't know?", I asked.

"It is basic logic. If she can't beat Walpurgisnacht, then Homura cannot prevent Madoka from becoming a magical girl, as Madoka will always make that choice. You know I'm right. There is no hope for her."

"Doctor, what is this thing talking about?", Camilla asked.

I bit my lip in frustration. I was reluctant to tell this thing what was going to eventually happen. I didn't think it could transfer information from loop to loop, but giving it a motive to destroy Homura before she could loop again was not something I wanted to try. Not when we were so badly banged up and couldn't protect Homura if this thing could bring multiple copies of itself into play.

Now you might ask if this was a reasonable fear. Kyubey never showed violence before, right? I would argue that it was because it didn't ]i]need[/i] to. A being that could enter one's mind with telepathy was capable of all sorts of terrible things. I wasn't about to find out the hard way that it could do them..

Kyubey pressed on through my silence. "Doctor, don't lie to yourself. I can see it in your posture. You know I'm right." Kyubey shifted position, getting up on all fours. "There is no way for Homura Akemi to save Madoka. It is impossible. You shouldn't deceive yourself or her."

Before I could answer, I heard a whimper from behind me. I turned, as did my Companions.

Homura was sitting up, propped up against the debris... and she was sobbing.

My mouth opened in shock as I realized what had just happened and how much of a Goddamned fool I had been.

The offer of a contract to regain my memories, the banter, the arguing over Madoka... Kyubey had been stalling. It had been buying time to get to its true intentions with this conversation. I should have realized it the moment it mentioned Homura by name and the quantum lock on Walpurgisnacht. This entire thing had been a setup, a chance for it to have Homura overhear us talk about the quantum lock and for it to hammer home the physical impossibility of Homura defeating Walpurgisnacht.

Oh, she knew better than to believe Kyubey by himself. But my inability to give a direct rebuttal spoke volumes. it was convincing. If I tried to lie I'd simply be playing to Kyubey's tune, and it had far more experience at it. And it's not like I could tell her what would happen, Homura wouldn't accept Madoka's ultimate fate since her purpose was to keep everything status quo for her. It would make all of this still seem for nothing.

"I can't win?" Homura's voice was close to breaking as she spoke through her sobs. At that moment every little shadow of doubt she'd held about fulfilling her promise was expanding to suffocate her spirit. Everything she feared was true; that she could not save Madoka. "Will I ever be able to beat Walpurgisnacht by myself? Tell me the truth!"

I looked down toward her soul gem. The black now filled half of it. And I could sense it creeping upward.

Janias stepped up. "I sensed no deception from that thing..."

"Janias, shut up," I hissed. Surprise and anger crossed her face. I'd never spoken to her like that before. I'm sure Camilla wasn't delighted either, though I imagine she might have guessed what was going on.

"Yes, Doctor, tell her the truth," Kyubey urged in that child-like voice. "Get her to stop struggling, she's only hurting herself. She deserves your honest answer."

At that point, I finally snapped. "I'll give you a bloody answer!," I roared. I twisted about and stretched my sonic out toward Kyubey. The purple tip lit up as I triggered a feedback disruption straight into its body.

A high shrill noise, a scream really, came from the doll-like body before it exploded into, well, white fluff.

"Well, that was cathartic," I mumbled to myself, feeling slightly pleased. I honestly shouldn't have been but I was in a sour mood.

Janias' eyes widened like saucers. "Doctor... you... you killed it!", she gasped in horror.

I slipped my sonic back into my pocket and sighed. "No, I didn't. It isn't that easy I'm afraid. That was just a bioconstruct body for the hive mind. Think of it as a sort of bio-droid controlled by a central computer. It's already preparing another body to replace this one." I smirked. "Well, in a few minutes anyway, I put enough feedback through its open connection that the Incubator hive mind should have one great big bloody headache now."

I'd made my great blow against the aliens who had tormented so many young girls. It would amount to a painful but transitory experience at best, not at all an appropriate response to what it had been doing.

And, well, I had other concerns now. Things were, well, not looking good.

"It's all for nothing," Homura sobbed. "I'll never save her. I'll never save Madoka!"

Like I said, not looking good.

The damage had been done. She'd overheard us talk, she'd overheard the entire thing about quantum locking, and it had fueled every fear she'd held deep down. The doubts she'd kept suppressed through sheer force of will, through her determination to fulfill her promise to the girl she loved, were breaking loose.

I limped up to her and got back onto my knees, which was rather uncomfortable given the injury to my right knee. I took her left hand into my own, eyeing her gem as the black started to seep toward the top. "Homura, listen to me. Whatever you heard, it's not hopeless. I know how this is supposed to end. Madoka will be saved from Kyubey, you just have to keep going. Trust me."

She looked at me through tear-stricken eyes. When she spoke, the words were weak, coming from someone suffocating under the weight of utter despair. "I can't beat it. I never have. I never can."

"It'll all be all right in the end," I insisted. "Just... you can't give up, Homura. Madoka is counting on you."

I was trying to be as re-assuring as possible, as insistent... but it wasn't working. It was clear she'd gone through many loops already, all the while that seed of doubt growing, and the interaction with Kyubey had brought it to blossom. The dark of the gem kept growing and growing.

"It's all been for nothing," she cried softly. "All for nothing."

"No! No it hasn't been! Dammit, don't give up now! You're going to beat that little sniveling...!"

"Doctor, just what is going on?!", Janias demanded. "I can feel the darkness growing..."

"I'll explain later, Janias," I responded. I took Homura by the head and stared intently into her blue eyes. "Listen to me. You will save Madoka. God dammit, Homura, you're going to win, don't give up! I know you're stronger than this!"

It wasn't working. The dark was up to the final sliver of purple on her soul gem. She was almost out of time.

"Do you have any seeds?!", I asked. "Homura, please!"

She was too drowned in her despair to answer.

It was all my fault. I had thought I was so clever, I was going to be just like the Doctor. I was going to thumb my nose at History and try to change a fixed point. I'd barged into a situation where my resources were low and my body injured and I'd tried to match wits with a being far, far older than I was with a hell of a lot more experience in the field. For all I was using the name like an arrogant idiot, I was not the Doctor. I didn't have that experience.

In short... I had screwed up royally, and Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi were going to pay the price for that. Their whole world would pay the price.

As I watched the black start to overtake the last mote of purple, I felt tears come to my eyes. It couldn't end like this. It couldn't! There had to be something I could do. Something to save her, something to clean the despair from her soul gem and give her a fighting chance...!

In my desperation, I made a calculation. I was a Time Lord and my mind had telepathic capability. I could reach into the minds, maybe even the very souls, of other beings and interact with them. Maybe, just maybe, I could cut through the despair by mentally connecting with Homura directly through her soul gem.

I had only seconds left when I pressed my right palm against the back of Homura's hand, feeling the fine surface of her gem against it. I could feel the cold darkness inside of it and knew she was almost lost.

I opened my mind and reached in, imagining my hand - the hand of my mind if you will - reaching into the gem and for her soul. I tried to fill it with a sense of reassurance, something to break through the despair. I even put some of my own in, my despair at losing everything I had been to my mind block and the ongoing feelings I had that I might never regain the memories of my loved ones. I hoped it would show her that she wasn't alone.

Black energy seeped around my hand and fingers. It started to move up my arm, a cold and terrible feeling, but I kept the connection, kept myself focused on it, as I could feel the light within the gem begin to shine once more.

And then the blackness reached my chest and my neck and my head... and I fell over screaming and wailing and sobbing.

I'm going to be honest. I don't think words can describe what happened to me in that state. Even in my darkest hours to come, when I was paying the price for my arrogance in trying to play the Doctor, I never reached the pits of despair that I had unknowingly flung myself into when I pulled the despair from Homura's soul gem. Homura's despair entered me in all of its terrible power and found my own despair, my doubts and worries about my life as it was, waiting for it. The combination was terrifying and I will never forget the sheer depths into which I was plunged.

I suppose I could try to get it across in mere words. One moment.

Ahem.

NO NO NO I'LL NEVER REMEMBER MY FAMILY I'LL NEVER SAVE MADOKA I'M GOING TO BE ALONE I'M A FAILURE A FAILURE A FAILURE I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM I CAN'T BEAT WALPURGISNACHT I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM I CAN'T SAVE MADOKA I CAN'T I CAN'T I'M A FAILURE I FAILED MY FAMILY MY FRIENDS MADOKA MY FAMILY I CAN'T WIN IT'S ALL FOR NOTHING I'LL NEVER GO HOME I'LL NEVER SAVE MADOKA NEVER SAVE HER CAN'T KEEP THE PROMISE CAN'T KEEP THE PROMISE TO MADOKA CAN'T KEEP THE PROMISE OF THE DOCTOR ALL FOR NOTHING NOTHING...!

That doesn't do it justice.

I wasn't sure whether my hearts would burst or if the despair would squeeze them into stillness. Both sensations existed on the periphery of the deep existential despair that had seized me. It seemed to be never-ending.

And then the warmth came.

I remember that too. I remember that terrible despair being pierced by a beam of golden warmth that reached my very soul. The black melted before that warm light. The violence of the despair calmed and a golden serenity replaced it in my hearts. A single mantra filled my head.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no chaos, there is harmony.

Having experienced that sensation, I can actually see why Jedi will willingly give up romantic life and creature comforts to be closer to the Light Side of the Force. For all I scorn their disapproval of love or feelings, I could now understand why they thought it a worthwhile trade; that golden serenity in my soul was so soothing I don't think I could ever do it justice through a description.

I felt my chest heave as I caught my breath. I opened my eyes and looked into Janias' lovely green eyes. The Mirialan girl smiled down at me, her hands holding mine. "It's okay, Doctor," she said softly. "It'll all be okay." She had a reassuring smile on her face.

"What...?" I sat up slowly. "How did...?" I didn't think Janias' Jedi training was sufficient for such a thing. She was too cocksure, too passionate, to do something like that.

"I had... help," she admitted, looking past me.

I turned and looked into a black visor with a red light for the sensors, a wisp of blonde hair over part of the side. "Hannah," I said.

Hello (Salutations) Doctor (Doctor of what anyway?).

I stared at her. "You're awake?"

With a big (huge) (ginormous) headache, but yes!

"She did something to my mind," Janias explained. "She made it really easy for me to settle my thoughts and meditate with the Force."

Oh, not too (terribly) hard. Just a little (not so little) neuroresponse editing to suppress Janias' (strong) emotions.

"I see. Thank you, Hannah."

Thank you (very very very much), Doctor. You saved my (ass) life. Hannah took my hand.

"You're welcome," I said.

I turned to a sitting position and looked toward Homura. She was still propped against the debris. Her soul gem shined without a speck of black in it. She looked to it and then to me. "How did you do that?", she asked. "What are you?"

"I'm a Time Lord, we have some telepathic talents," I explained. I drew in a breath. "This was my fault. I tried to interfere in these events and I underestimated Kyubey. Or, rather, overestimated myself."

"It's very easy to underestimate that thing. It's made for that purpose." She grimaced. "You know a lot about us, Doctor. I want to ask a question."

"I'll try to answer it, then."

She stared directly at me. "Can I save Madoka?"

I nodded and, with as firm a voice as I could manage in my battered state, answered, "Yes."

"How?'

"By continuing your time loops. Every time you loop, Homura, you reset the game board. Kyubey can't relay memories through the loops so you always start with an advantage over him." I gripped her hand. "Eventually, you will come to a loop where its plans for Madoka are thwarted. I'm not sure how many. But I know it will come." I smiled gently. "You are Madoka's greatest hope, Homura. Remember that."

She bowed her head and gave me a nod. "I will. Can you help me?"

I drew in a sigh. "I think it best if I minimize my involvement. This is a fixed point, Homura. The outcome can change but the players need to stay consistent. If I meddle, well... it's an extra element of chaos that can disrupt what will come."

"I see." She looked to her buckler. "I should go back now. I don't want to see Madoka turning into a witch again. I've seen it happen too many times."

"Understandable." I nodded and looked to Camilla. "How well off is the TARDIS?"

"Almost there, Doctor."

"It's going to be rough, time loops always are tough to break out of. Why don't you check up on things, show Hannah the swimming pool or something? I'll be right there."

Camilla nodded and the three returned to the TARDIS. I looked back to Homura. "Young lady, I want you to know something. I know how this has changed you and how you feel now. You feel like you're not even Human."

"I'm not," she answered quietly.

"Oh, but you're wrong there, Homura Akemi." I let the smile return to my face. "You are so very wrong. Look at yourself, Homura. You fight this ongoing battle in the name of the one you love against odds that would make other beings quiver and flee. That's why Kyubey has trouble dealing with you. You are Human with your persistence, your courage, your defiance against the forces against you. Remember, it doesn't matter where you keep your soul but that you have it." I tapped the soul gem on the back of her hand. "You know how you have that promise to Madoka? I would like to tell you mine."

Her tone was still very subdued when she asked, "And what promise is that?"

"It's my promise to myself, the promise of the Doctor. 'Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in.' I have to keep that or I can't be the Doctor. I'd like you to remember that."

A lark seized me. It was perhaps a little unnecessary, even a bit uncomfortable, but I couldn't resist it. I put my arms around Homura's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. I suppose I felt she needed it. She'd been fighting this lonely battle for oh so very long and she needed to know she had someone who knew about it and supported her in it.

Perhaps she agreed with that, as despite my expectations she didn't resist. With my mouth by her ear I dropped my voice to a lower volume. "Never give up, Homura. You're not alone."

When the embrace ended and I stood, I looked into her face and saw, for the first time, a smile form. We nodded at each other.

From there I limped over to the TARDIS door and made my best speed to the controls. "Well, how about a quick visit to the past, say a year or so?", I said. I twisted a knob. "Then the TARDIS can have all the time it needs to repair itself."

"That's pretty specific, Doctor," Camilla remarked. "Do you have something in mind?"

"You might say that," I replied. "Although my first stop is to the hot tub to give all of these bruises a nice soak."

A hot tub (really)?!, I heard Hannah, well, think.

"Oh yes, Hannah. And a swimming pool. Both are in the library. Hot tub's usually covered though, I save it for special occasion." I pulled back on the TARDIS lever. The TARDIS shuddered as it pulled out of Homura's ongoing time loop and went into the past.

As for why I went into the past? That's... for another time. I have to finish this story first, you understand. Yes, it is not quite over. No rest for the weary, sadly, but I had preparations to make.

Because one day, when I was fresh and better experienced, I was going to check up on the Incubators. I knew they would be up to mischief even after Madoka changed the entire magical girl system and the timeline with it.

And I was going to be ready for them.

I didn't linger too long, choosing to stay only long enough for Camilla to treat my knee enough to walk on. After I went on my little errand in this time frame I returned to the TARDIS and decided it was time to face Hannah about what needed to be done with her. "I can't return you to the moment I saved you," I explained. "There are events in your world's timeline that would be undone if you were there. I'm going to take you to a point a few weeks later."

I could see she wasn't too thrilled by that. You mean you want Theresa (Spookums) to think I'm dead (really?). Don't you know how hard (really hard) that's going to hurt her?

"Yes. I'd not do it if I could help it, but it's important those events go off as they're supposed to. This experience has reminded me of how important it can be to avoid messing with the timeline too much. It can cause too much damage." I went to the TARDIS control. "And I'm not so much dropping you off as picking her up. There's a medical station in the 28th Century that has given me a blank check for service, I was thinking you could both use it."

What? What's happening (going to happen) to my Spookums?!

"Some critical injuries, nothing immediately life threatening. Turns out fighting your way into Hell is just as painful as falling off a building."

She WHAT?! (ARE YOU SERIOUS?!)

"I'm sure she'll tell you about it." I flipped a few switches. "Alright, time to take you home." I pulled the lever.

After the customary VWORPing I went up to the TARDIS door with Hannah right behind me. We were in an empty room save for pre-established transporter portals called Lotus Nodes, named because, well, they looked like lotus flowers. "Hrm, we must be early," I mused. "I should go double check..."

One node opened with a "piiing". "...WAY!" The cry sounded through the room as two figures erupted from it, one holding the other in a bridal carry almost. I recognized Theresa - "Sistah Spooky" - battered and wounded in the arms of Empowered herself, long flowing blonde hair and all. The sparkling on her dark blue tattered skin suit were already fading and what looked like a skeleton of wings retracted into her suit's back. She twisted upon landing. "Close portal! Close portal!" A blast of energy came from her hand with a VORP and slammed into the control for the node, shutting it down.

They had an exchange about Empowered's wings - the ones she never noticed - before they noticed me. As they looked over in surprise and confusion I waved. "Hello there Emp, Theresa. I'm the Doctor. I've come bearing a gift for you both."

I stepped away from the opening of the TARDIS.

Their eyes widened as Hannah ran out. I could feel her in my head, not invading my mind but borrowing my sight so she could see what they looked like. Oh, Spookums! What were you thinking?! Look at you (really look!).

I wasn't sure how they'd react. They stared as if they'd seen a ghost even as Hannah ran up and embraced her mutilated beloved. And I do mean mutilated. Holes blasted through her body, her right arm ripped off... it wasn't pretty.

"How... how can you...?" I could hear Theresa's voice breaking. She'd just started to put this behind her and here I was, reopening the wound.

Granted, I was re-opening it to close it completely.

"I'm a time traveler," I said aloud. "I picked her up from the station the moment it exploded."

'You look like it," Emp said. I could see tears in her eyes, tears that were shifting toward joy. I hadn't just returned Theresa's beloved to her; I'd fixed Emp's greatest defeat. "Why?"

"Why?" I smiled. "Because I'm the Doctor. I make things better. Well..." I let out a sigh. "I try anyway."

I suppose I should mention that moments like these always tended to shift me back on the "Call myself the Doctor" track. It's like I couldn't help myself, really.

"Thank you." Emp relented in allowing Hannah to take Theresa.

"No, thank you Emp." I extended my hand. "I know your story. It seems my luck today that I get to meet so many formidable young ladies who never give up. Consider me a fan."

She took it. "I... I don't even know who you are." I could see her focus for a moment. "Uh, do you know you have two hearts?"

"Yep. Part of being a Time Lord."

"And the blue call box is part of the whole Time Lord dealie?"

"Oh yes. I'll have to give you a ride one day." I winked and pulled out my sonic screwdriver. "I'm going to take Theresa someplace she can get treated. Hannah too, er, that is, Mindf... Mindscrew." I heard her giggle. "Cursing, nasty habit, I tend to end up around children sometimes so I try not to start. Anyway, I'd hate to leave without leaving you a gift of some sort, so..." I found a computer panel and began running the screwdriver over it.

"Purple?", she asked.

"Oi, don't diss the color, it's my favorite."

"Hey, whatevs."

I had to smirk at that accent and speech pattern. And, well, on what I was doing. "And there we go. You may still have issues, but I've done some work on the records, they shouldn't hold you responsible for this little excursion to the nether dimensions. Oh, and, I'll be coming back to check in soon to make sure Major Havoc is behaving."

She scowled. "I don't see that happening."

"Oh, I gave him plenty of incentive just now." I winked as I stepped back toward the TARDIS. "Take care, Emp. Give Kozue and TB my regards. And tell the Demonwolf to behave himself."

"Wait, uh, Doctor!" She waved at me as I stepped into the TARDIS. "Uh, how do you know so much about me?"

The true answer was because I like a manga-style comic book by a writer with a serious sadistic streak toward his characters. But I didn't feel like arguing sixth dimensional wibbly-wobbly spacey-wacey stuff.

"I'm the Doctor, my dear." I raised my eyebrows up and down in a mischievous expression. "I know everything." I winked again and closed the door. Undoubtedly she watched in some surprise as the TARDIS dematerialized.

"Where are you taking us?", I heard Theresa ask from where she was still in Hannah's arms, being given first aid by Camilla. A quick glance told me that she and Hannah were in deep telepathic conversation.

"Layom Station," I replied. "They owe me a few favors. You'll be staying there a while but when it's all done, well, you'll both be good as new. New arm, new tongue, new eyes. Completely intact."

I heard an intake of breath from Theresa at the prospect of seeing Hannah whole. It made the moment all the more endearing.

"And off we go. Tally ho!" I pulled the TARDIS lever.

When we left Layom Station I put us in orbit of a convenient temporal rift for some quick refueling while I, to not put too fine a word on it, took a break. I was still battered from my fall from that building and the exertion of trying to stop Walpurgisnacht.

The girls were busy swimming and cuddling and kissing in the swimming pool while I let the warm jets of my hot tub sooth away my aches, my tender shoulder and mended knee. Treatment on Layom Station had healed broken bones but it takes time even for my Time Lord body to fully recuperate. I enjoyed the relaxation.

So, of course, that was when I got a phone call.

I'd rigged the TARDIS phone to come to a receiver beside me. I lifted it up, sloshing a bit of water as I did, and put it to my ear. "Hello."

A familiar baritone voice was on the other end. "Hey Doc."

I let out a groan. Dramatic irony. I get bruised and battered in an adventure and of course the master of walking away from such beatings has to interrupt my recovery. "Hello Harry," I sighed.

"Remember when you told me to call if anything involving the Cracks came up?"

I sat up in the hot tub with enough violence to make the water slosh over the side and make my left shoulder hurt. "Did you find another one?!"

"I wish it was just that. I've got a Red Court team in Chicago trying to dig out the one that Dustin and Lonny were powered by. I'm putting together a team to stop them. I figured we could use your help."

The Red Court of Vampires tapping that kind of energy source was not something I wanted to see done. And since I had an idea of how to seal those kinds of Cracks now, it was imperative that I come. "I'll be right there Harry."

"Meet you at my place. I ordered Burger King for everyone."

"You are a gastrointestinal menace, Harry Dresden." I hung up.

My Companions had overheard my conversation and looked up. "Doctor, since we're time-travelers, can't we just take a while, recover, and arrive when he called?"

I let out a sigh. "I wish. But the call fixes the TARDIS to those events. We'll have to respond as soon as we can. Honestly, I'm not sure why you're complaining, I'm the one who fell off a bloody building and then a satellite dish." I lifted myself from the hot tub. "Alright girls, let's get ready. There's no rest for the weary, it seems."

Granted, I wasn't one to complain. If the likes of Homura Akemi and Elissa Powers could go through all of the horrible things they do... who was I to whine about some bruises?

So off we went to another adventure.