A/N:Welcome to whitetigercub who has placed this on 'story alert'.
Jelly Babies and thanks to my reviewers (yes, yes… an entire bag each, honest): OtherMeWriter, My Reflection, and Basia Orci.
Why thank you, and she hasn't even come unhinged yet…
Yes, the 'necking' was a stroke of genius, wasn't it? Oddly enough, I dreamt that scene and had no idea where it fit until I was writing that chapter (hey I have weird dreams, what can I say?).
The 'Collection' scene is inspired by such references, as Dante's Inferno and such, as well as the 'Toon this is based on. I'm quite glad that it came across the way I intended.
And Guess What? Here's that second chapter. Sometimes being sick has unexpected rewards. Now if I could just kick this bug.

Summary: The Doctor, reeling from the effects of the TimeWar as the last surviving TimeLord, stumbled into a situation he could not ignore when the TARDIS landed him inside a ship that was clearly in trouble. After the rescue, he's left with eight survivors that he must somehow get to safety. But the situation is not as cut and dry as he might like. His people may be gone, but the stamp he's made on the universe is still there, and he finds himself caught in a web spun of the choices he's made in the past…

It's 2517. Something in history has prompted humanity to explode out from their home world. Could the events of 2164 be responsible? Was Earth a myth or was it real? In fleeing Earth-that-Was, humanity scattered to the stars across the galactic arm. Initial survey teams targeted likely planets and systems for habitation and not all of them ended up on the same side of the sector. Blue Sun exists on one side, separated by a patch of 'wild space' filled with exotic binary and triple star systems, from the rest of civilized space.

Few ships brave the route. But luck had it that one ship did. Risking a ghost run, the only contact that the two sides have, the Hunter-Gratzner crashed midway through the journey. Original Port of Departure: Eavesdown Docks, Persephone. Mixed Sino-Anglo culture. Original Port of Call: Tangiers-5. Darkside. Mixed Islamic-Anglo culture. Crew complement: Four. Passengers: Forty. Living 'Cargo': Two. Survivors: Eight plus One

So what happens to Dr. Simon Tam, his brilliant but damaged sister, a convicted murder by the name of Richard B. Riddick, and the other survivors from the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner at planet M-344/G-2 now that they are on their way home? They end up slightly out of their own Time, on a ship filled with living sculptures… And just how is this related to the TimeWar?

A Doctor Who / Firefly / Riddick crossover.

Features Doctor 9, Pre-"Rose"; Simon and River Tam, Pre-"Serenity" Firefly episode 1 and the survivors from Pitch Black: Carolyn Fry, William J. Johns, Imam Abu al'Walid, 'Jack B. Badd', Ali Abdullah, and Richard B. Riddick…

Doctor Who and the Ties that Bind.

Part Sixteen

Decadence

Antonia was – surprised – at the Doctor's maneuver with the sudden appearance of the odd glowing disk and string toy. She had checked the pockets of his coat, and they had been empty, completely empty. She wouldn't have given the garment away if they hadn't been. She'd been further – surprised – when he turned the toy into a weapon, very effectively. No wonder the Shrill had made such a fuss about him. Now the tentacled creatures couldn't seem to get a fix on him, although she is fairly sure that they know he's there somewhere. They have never had problems in this light before. And because of that she's – surprised – again when they begin to glow, giving away their numbers, in an effort to locate their quarry.

"Could I be seeing things, or does it look like the entire fucking cell of those freaks are in here?" the redhead says.

"Can I vote for 'seeing things'?" says the dark haired young man near him.

"No, Simon. This ain't a voting situation," the marshal replies becoming very uncomfortable.

"Well, then, I'd have to say that we are outnumbered here by about three to one."

"Brilliant."

"Thank you, I know."

"Awright you clowns, shut the fuck up so I can concentrate here," the bronze-toned figure on the fighting floor says.

"If you'd get me down, I'd help you, Moron," Billy says

"That's Sir-Moron, to you, dipshit," Riddick turns sideways as the creatures advance on him. He searching for the gun he knows that is in here somewhere.

"Sure, right. The weapon landed near Fry, Sir-Moron," Johns says to assist, because he watched exactly where the gun had gone. Richard dodges that way and the glowing yellow yo-yo comes out from behind him, catching the Shrill closest to gripping him with a wet squishy screech-filled splat. "Ouch. You know, some warning when you do that might be nice."

As the Shrill falls with a thud, the Doctor says, "And give them an advantage? I don't think so."

Some of the creatures are getting the impression that perhaps all the humans in this pit with them are the enemy, not just the one that smells sweet. Those few, about five, darken as they go into attack mode. The two mercs that had cushioned the fall are finally clambering to their feet. Because they have their guns out the more violent of the Shrill target them. The closer creature takes a swipe at the one that had leered at Jack, the tentacle going invisible. The merc spins to follow it, gunfire spraying the path where the appendage had been. It hits no Shrill, but there's a snapping sound and a childish squeal. Meanwhile, the other merc puts his gun away and moves quickly to the cyborg.

"Ali!" calls Imam. The sound of the globe rolling and knocking Shrill aside as it moves across the room alarms the priest.

"I'm ok! I'm good," Ali sounds breathless.

"I got 'im, Father," says Rich. Then to the boy, "Stay behind me."

The first merc lowers his gun and gapes at the emptiness. For a split second it appears that he might have driven the creatures away. Then he's suddenly lifted into the air by all four of the attacking Shrill's brightly glowing arms. He screams in panic, spraying additional gunfire across the upper area of the room and ceiling, rather wildly. His limbs are pulled back further apart and the Shrill injects him with some sort of stinger. The merc's screams become wails of agony, horrific and mercifully short lived, as the toxin makes him swell up and burst, leaving behind a toxic ooze of glowing goo that the Shrill pours over itself. This makes it go back to being docile.

"What the fuck!" Fry can't really react any other way. She panicked and terrified by the display and just barely remembers that she'll hang herself if she moves.

"Radioactive venom, breaks the body down into organic sludge that they can absorb through the skin. No mouth or digestive system, like most Skaro mutants," the Time Lord tells her.

"Take that would kill even you?" Rich asks.

"Yep. Don't get stung."

"And now you tell me. Thanks so much, Doctor."

"My pleasure."

The other aggressive Shrill zero in on the cyborg-merc and remaining fella, who has been trying to get his comrade back on his feet. The Cyborg levels his gun and shoots for the brain, popping one off, "I can fucking see you, even in the dark. Find another goddamn meal." This makes the three behind the dead one pause and turn. He pops off another, "That's for Charls, you sick fucks."

Now the remaining two aggressive Shrill have to make a choice. They can either go for the sweet smelling form that is free or the other seven that are captive that don't smell sweet. And because there are ten times their number still after the sweet scented one they go for another. Trying to peg Simon however proves to be a bad choice. River is able to 'run' her globe over bumping her brother's and somehow managing to get him onto her sphere with her. His globe flies back into the wall with enough force to squish the Shrill directly behind it that had been targeting him. She dodges the recoil from it and the ball rolls harmlessly to the center of the pit. He blinks rapidly at her, in the very dim purplish glow. She brings her globe to a dead stop and listens carefully. Not now, Simon. He stays quiet, but clings to her, his heart racing in his chest.

Richard is staying alive by moving constantly. Ali is doing a very good job of staying behind him. Finally he finds the gun. Snagging it he quickly aims and takes one of the closest shrill out. Sometimes a gun is a good thing. He estimates that there's about twenty of the bastards left in here, and this gun might hold an extended clip with fourteen shots, fully loaded then, he'd have thirteen left. Better make them count. "Sorry Billy, I think dodging is my main focus here."

"Limited Ammo?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Recognized the make. Don't worry about me," William quiped. They were both used to these kinds of outlandish fights, if anyone could even the odds, Riddick could. He reached back and pushed the Arabic boy into a corner, pegging off the Shrill that tried to sneak up on his side and rapidly doing the same on the other side. That made it eighteen to eleven.

In the center of the room the Doctor shifted the sphere to block a feint. "Hello there. Want to play with my yo-yo? Opps." He gets another, one behind him, in the braincase, making it wobble; "You'll have to give my toy back, now." He yanks, pulling the creature off balance. He grabs the spinner, stopping it. The Shrill lets off a high pitched shriek. "I do believe I already said I didn't like you either," The Doctor punches his fist into the creature's brain best he can with the cuffs on, and untangles the string from the protective spinning mandibles with the easiest of expertly applied tugs and lets go. If he's bothered by the slightly glowing sludge dripping down his arm he doesn't show it, "Thank you." It must have been enough because the Shrill deflates. Seventeen to eleven. He then has to dodge the first Shrill, but River doesn't give it time to actually reach him before running it over and hopping both herself and Simon back onto Simon's globe. The creature mows down three others, hitting the back wall softly enough that none of them are injured.

"Not the most luminescent of torches in the receptacle, are they?" River says.

"What?" Johns and Jack echo each other with the question.

"Brightest bulbs in the box?" Simon translates.

The marshal laughs, "No."

"The really smart ones use armor. Be thankful we're not fighting that kind."

Riddick takes out another couple with the gun, "I think we all are, Doctor."

Simon finds that his sister still has the sonic screwdriver. She can get the wrist cuffs off, but the collars are another issue, totally. "Hang on," she tells him as she swings her cuffs like a throwing stick and nails a Shrill with it. The creature lives up to -- or err, dies by -- its name. She then takes out another with his set. This knocks the numbers down thirteen to nine. Not that Rich is counting. River then leaves Simon on his sphere as she lightly leaps over to Ali's so she can maneuver around to each of them. This does not surprise him as much as it might some of the others. He has yet to find something that his sister is not brilliant at, so her acting like a blind juggler at a circus doesn't shock him at all. Her arrival at each of the other's spheres with the little blue light does slightly dumbfound most of them. Imam looks at her like she's an angel. She smiles and clobbers a Shrill as she steers to the next person, which happens to be the docking pilot. Fry looks very wobbly. What River really wants is to get her to the ground. "Upper locks are different. Very problematic."

"Here," says the Doctor from below her. She tosses the device to him, and then knocks a Shrill over the head, stunning, but not killing, it because the angle is bad. Rich shoots it. Eleven to eight. Odds are looking pretty even at the moment. The Doctor undoes his own wrist cuffs, fiddles with the screwdriver settings, frowns, tries it, and goes back to fiddling again. "Yes, quite difficult, that. Just a moment. There." Both Carolyn's and River's collars unclick. "Work on the collars first." He tosses the device back up to her then reaches for the blonde, "Come on, Carolyn." River catches the silver tube and moves off to the next person.

Jack says, "Shiny," as the neck restraint comes off.

Below him, Ali's voice comes with, "We're behind you, I think, Jack."

"Can't see here."

Riddick snorts, "You don't want to, trust me. Get onto your knees and slide down the back of the sphere. I'll catch you." The boy does so, and finds Ali clinging to him. After a moment Carolyn joins them, led by the Doctor. "Okay there, Doc? And don't glare at me, I can't see it, Bob."

"Oh, yes you can. Don't call me Doc. And for your information, I'm fine."

Johns sees the blue light and feels the collar open, "Can I kiss you?"

"No."

"Well, ok then." He slides to the floor. A Shrill snags his arm, "Fuck you." He lets it pull him in, making it impossible for it to catch his legs by tucking his knees up to his chest. Once he gets within kicking range he shoves his boot into its brain. "Ah, man. These things reek when they die." Ten to eight. He ends up in a heap on the slimy floor with his would-be killer.

River gets Simon and Imam unlocked. The Shrill have gone very quiet. Then again they've lost over half, more like two-thirds, their numbers and only removed one of the humans. Carefully all three of them descend to the floor. She takes both men by the hand and listens. "Marshal?"

"Yeah?" He's on the floor, caught by his boot. Simon goes to his knees. "Over here. I'm stuck." River leads Imam around to the others, passing the two mercs.

Simon finds Johns by voice then locates his trapped limb. "I can twist this counter, but you're going to have to move fast."

"No problem, Doc." They quickly get Johns unstuck. "I think it's busted. My foot's all numb."

Simon catches him under the arms; "You can't stay here." He drags him backwards. In the process Johns finds the second dropped gun. He feels it and notices it's got a nightsight scope. He snatches the thing and pulls it into his lap. Then he feels Fry helping.

"Get him to his feet!" Riddick orders. He can see the Shrill regrouping, looking for easy targets. Johns now qualifies.

"Come on, Bill." He manages to get his other foot into a non-slimy spot on the floor and helps to gain his feet. "Ok, I've got you. Lean on me," Carolyn says.

The cyborg says, "You're never gonna make it out of here. Even if you kill 'em all, she'll just send in more."

"I doubt it. She wants me for her 'private collection' and I have a feeling that means she'll want as little damaged as possible," Riddick says to him. "Besides, what do you care? She's sentenced you to the same fate."

He aims his gun at River; "There's more than one way to go."

She turns her head, hearing the movement, kicks the gun out of his hand and lands her knee in his throat, knocking him back to the floor. River then rolls away as a Shrill attempts to catch her. It snags the downed merc instead. As he's lifted into the air he screams from the venom, swelling and melting. His various machine parts clatter to the floor. River yanks Abu out of the fallout of the glowing sludge.

"Now that's what I call dim," Riddick tells the other merc. "You want to follow his example or ours."

"Y-yours?"

"Might just be the smartest man of the bunch," The Doctor says from his side. The merc squeals in surprise. He herds the man over to the others, "Of course, this means if you live then your 'Boss' will kill you, but…"

Carolyn says, "So how many are in here?"

"Ten," The Doctor takes away the merc's gun and shoots one, "Nine. How many shots are in this?"

"Err… five, now."

"Good man. Richard?"

"Maybe eight, if it was fully loaded." The Doctor switches guns with him so that Riddick knows exactly how many shots he's got.

"Before you ask, this clip is empty, but I got a scope. So -- " He detaches it and pitches the gun at a Shrill that isn't quite dark, "anyway."

River removes Jack's cuffs and then expertly pitches them at the same blob that Bill had thrown at. The Shrill screams. "Eight," she says, "But only three sets of chains left."

"It's not fully loaded. The clip has one shell in it."

Now that's a bummer of a deal. Rich figures that they have enough bullets to take out six, and there are eight. They have no misses, and no leeway. But he's fought worse odds. He aims at the leader, "Sorry, we ain't food for you." The Shrill goes down with a bang, and the gun jams on the next shot. "Fucking piece of shit."

River pops the cuffs off of Carolyn and calls, "Duck!" Lucky for her they all know she means 'down' not the waterfowl. The target that Richard was aiming for also dips down, but the improvised weapon hits the one behind it, sailing through the braincase and jerking it back before it falls. The Doctor takes aim with the last shot and eliminates the leader. The other five fall back.

"Call them off, Antonia."

Laugher floats down to them. "Actually, I'm considering adding some additional targets for you, Doctor." River removes the cuffs from William and passes the sonic screwdriver back to the Time Lord. At the moment he's wishing he saved a bullet for their charming hostess.

"One of mine dies in here and you will pay for it with your life."

River pulls her shiv and crouches, holding the stiff chains in the other hand. She's ready for this.

Riddick glances at her. He knows she can't see anything but that doesn't seem to be a problem for River. The ex-ranger discards the useless gun and pulls his blade. The odds aren't so bad. The Doctor's got his yo-yo, River's got a blade and a set of chains, and he's got his weapon. Three to five. Not so bad. Then the Doctor surprises him by using the screwdriver to alter the lights, just enough to give them more of a chance. He figures it is for River's sake, but the fact that the lights are hot might just make a difference. He smirks. Stepping out in front of the others, making himself the target, he says, "You wanna go? Let's go."

The Shrill flash at him, then one makes a lunge. He dodges. A second swipes at him and he catches the limb with his shiv slicing along the tentacle, slitting it open. That Shrill reels back screaming in agony. Richard still has his cuffs on, and frankly he doesn't care. He uses them to block an incoming attack rather effectively. Using the same trick twice gets him scooped off his feet and thrown across the pit however.

"Amadak!" The Doctor flicks the yo-yo out to ensnare the offending Shrill. He growls at it and yanks until the string of his toy slices through a tentacle. It turns away from the downed prize and flashes at him. "That's right, you've been after the wrong target, all this time. I'm right here." Instead of attacking the Shrill back further. Maybe it's that Look he's giving them.

While the creatures try to regroup with two of them now injured, Riddick gets back to his feet. He's slightly dazed from the landing. One of the five that had not taken a swipe at him does only to get jabbed with Richard's shiv. It's enough to get the creature to back away.

"River, don't."

"Quiet Simon. I need to listen."

Richard decides to press his new advantage with a series of jabs and blocks, carefully singling out the one creature he cut open before. The other three move to protect the one the Doctor sliced the limb off of, leaving the one the ex-ranger is after to fend for itself. Desperate, the Shrill tries a thrust with its stinger and ends up shattering Riddick's shackles. Seeing that the move didn't work it tries slamming him back with a powerful blow, only it fails to recall the sharp blade its opponent is wielding. The tentacle falls away and it squeals in surprised pain. The sound makes all the Shrill pause.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Chillingsworth can barely sit still; the heat of need burns so brightly. Oh yes, she wants that bronze-skinned man for her collection. With him in place her next bit of performance art would shatter her previous ones. "Beautiful, beautiful creature," she breathes out as she grips the cushions of the lounge in an effort to not touch herself.

Junner doesn't even look over at her. He doesn't need to. He knows she's in the throws of heightened passion. And he has a feeling that she's not looking at the Shrill. But it's always his place to cheer the underdogs of any battle and in this case it seems to be the tentacled creatures, "Shrill are an exquisite species."

She rolls her eyes. But of course he'd play this the traditional way. "I'm talking about the man. Um. Do you think you could do better?"

Placing down the opera glasses, Junner turns to her. "I am always willing to please you, mistress."

She parts her legs and points to the floor between them, "Come here." He smirks and moves to do her bidding. "Ah, yes. Just like that."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Richard feels more than sees the Doctor step up to assist him. The Shrill he's injured still has two good limbs and is more determined then ever. One of the uninjured creatures glides over in an effort to protect it, but it refuses to back away. They begin using their color changes to confuse or confound, not realizing that their opponent is color blind.

"They're gonna kill him!" Jack tries to move to Riddick's defense and Imam pulls him back.

"No, Jack. The Doctor is there. They know what they are doing."

In front of them River uses the last cuff-weapon to bring down a Shrill that was trying to sneak around behind the Time Lord and the ex-ranger. Drat. There is still four remaining. She looks at the knife in her hand and flips it. Fair balance for throwing, but she'd have no weapon then. Still if she could knock the enemy to three and two of those are injured… Yes that would be worth it. She freezes as she listens to the movement. Her spin and throw makes Fry scream. The Shrill she downs was just out of tentacle range of that side of the group.

The other injured Shrill joins in the dance against the Doctor and Richard, perhaps surmising that the larger group is more deadly. The trio settles into a perfect rhythm, barely broken by the missing limbs. Riddick focuses on them, ready for their next move, coiled and waiting. The trio moves apart, causing both males to step back defensively. Then the Shrill stop flashing, and after the brightness of their vivid colors are impossible to see.

"To the left!" calls Jack. Richard barrels a sphere into the target that Jack indicates, tipping it off balance and catching it with his blade. The result is that the Shrill falls away head apart from body, not quite dead, but dying quickly. At the same time the Doctor dodges out of the way, causing the Shrill after him to poke it's stinger into the sphere behind him.

"Nasty little lab specimen," the Time Lord grips the its spinner, "Wonder how you cope without this?" The Doctor plunges his hand in and rips out a section of brain. The thing goes off like a flash bulb.

This distracts Riddick, "Huh?"

"No!" Jack screams the warning as Riddick turns to see the third Shrill nearly on him. Imam struggles to keep Jack back, as the Shrill catches Riddick by the arms and immobilizes him. His shiv goes flying. This causes the boy to struggle even harder, and Abu cannot hold him. He runs forward, grabs one of the tentacles on the floor that is more or less intact and whips it around the attacking creature in an effort to stop it from stinging Riddick. The Shrill flips the boy off like a minor annoyance. Jack tumbles across the floor and finds himself near River's shiv. But Jack is not the only one trying to interfere. The Time Lord pesters it to keep it from getting a hold of the con's legs. The creature bats the Doctor off, sending him flying into a sphere. He hits hard, causing the heavy globe to fly back and then tumbles hand over foot into the wall. "Doctor!" Screams the green-eyed boy. He doesn't respond or move, but the Shrill readies itself to inject its captive… And Rich twists in such a way that it cuts its own tentacle off. This catches Jack's attention again,"Riddick?" Jack calls as he plucks River's blade out of the sludge.

The bronze man reaches his hand out, "Here!" The green-eyed boy throws the blade his direction, and he swings his arm slightly to catch it. Moving quickly he cuts his other hand free. The Shrill, enraged and in pain, rears its stinger back. Riddick whips the tentacle around his arm into the center of the creature and allows it to pull him in. With a bright flash of light the fight is over. The room goes dark.