Doctor and Assistant, Chapter 24
Chapter 24: 3 Lives But 2 Hearts, Part Two
/Scarlet\\
Jordan stood up fearlessly.
"What are you doing?" Scarlet asked.
"Technically speaking, I've already looked."
Jordan ripped something that sounded like tape and soon the room dimmed, losing light. Scarlet peeked in and saw a dark curtain covering the screen so it was impossible to see the game without moving the obstacle.
"I know it won't hold for long, but it's somewhat ingenious," Jordan muttered.
Scarlet nodded in agreement. "But there's something off about you."
"About me?!" Jordan gasped, laughing.
"How're you okay about this? 5 strangers walk into your room, jump into your TV, and you're not the tiniest bit confused or scared?"
"It just seems anomalous," she shrugged.
Scarlet face-palmed. "You're not scared of anomalous things?"
"Nope! Place not to far from here got hit by some 'Carrionites' and 3 people disappeared in a telephone kiosk labeled 'police'. London is full of anomalies too. In fact..." Jordan gasped. "Were they the aliens that were in New York?"
"I wasn't around for that part," Scarlet admitted. "Sick."
"Wait, are you an alien too?" The Skyolozine nodded. "What species?"
"Skyolozine." (Author's Note: Figured to say it now, so, "sky-oh-luh-zeen".)
"No way!" Jordan then paused. "'Skyolozine'? What's that?"
"I grow wings and fly. Not that entertaining."
"What's your home planet like?"
Scarlet paused. "I... I don't know, exactly."
Jordan's expression turned to be one of disbelief. "Wait, you don't know your home planet's name?"
The Skyolozine shrugged. "Lost my memory early on in my life. I was taken in by a member of another species. At least, that's what I've been told..."
"By who?"
"My dad-slash-guardian-slash-boyfriend-slash-lover-slash... Actually, that's about it."
"Well, who is that?"
"...You wouldn't know him," Scarlet meekly said, sighing.
"How were you raised? Like, how did he treat you?" Jordan was definitely wrapped into the story, and it would've been mean to stop.
Scarlet took in a deep breath before speaking. "I did most of the work around his spaceship, a.k.a my at-that-time current residence."
"What kind of work?"
"Oh, you know, kind of like a servant's. I had to cook, clean, and basically any chore you could think of."
Jordan was puzzled. "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
"18," she admitted.
"Wow...," Jordan sighed after a pause, "you had it rough."
"No kidding," Scarlet laughed nervously and ashamedly.
"Do you still do it?"
"No, I moved in with the Doctor, Derpy, Lilly and Hydran a month or so ago. So, no cleaning for me, if you don't count my bedroom."
"What is it like? You know, living with aliens?"
"Like living with yourself," she laughed. "What's it like when you're not?"
Jordan merely laughed, looking down and shaking her head.
/Lilly\\
Derpy, when done, was guided by the Doctor to the stream to get a drink, leaving Lilly with Hydran.
Hydran, sitting on the tree stump next to her, watched her with a caring expression as she tried not to make eye contact. She was too deep in though to.
If Derpy was pregnant, how would that affect everyone else? Would it affect anyone else? But most of all, what of the Doctor's mentality on the subject of 'children', with his dead?
"...You alright?" Hydran asked. "You're paler than a ghost. No pun intended."
Lilly giggle shortly. "Yes... I'm okay."
"Liar," he declared softly, "you have an idea as to what's going on."
Lilly froze. "No, n-n-no I don't."
"You're a 13 year old girl who sees the past, present, and future, and the beings they contain. When you pale, something is up and you don't want to say it."
"Look, Hydran - or Mercer, whatever your real name is - I know nothing. I'm okay. Just... Just leave it."
A few awkward moments passed before Hydran, in a hoarse voice, said: "it's a nickname."
"What?" Lilly asked, taken aback by surprise.
"Hydran. It's my nickname."
"Then why have people call you by a nickname rather than your real name?"
"My friends back home never liked my real name. Instead, they give me a nickname. Hydran. And it kind of stuck, I guess."
"Why 'Hydran', though?" Lilly asked the 3-headed dragon.
"Well, in Greek mythology there's a 3-headed water serpent named Hydra. And, to top it off, that's my only weakness," Hydran/Mercer explained.
"3 headed water serpents name Hydra are your only weakness?"
"No! No," Hydran laughed. "Water. Water is my only weakness."
/the Doctor\\
The Doctor held Derpy's hand, helping her sit up after taking a drink from the stream.
"Are you alright now, love?" he asked her.
Derpy giggled nervously. "That was so embarrassing... I can not believe that just happened."
The Doctor kissed the top of her head soothingly. "Calm down, dear. Stuff like this happens."
"Mmhmm," she mumbled sadly.
"Hey, when we get done with Soul Rider and this entire ordeal, we're going right into the TARDIS and you're going to get some rest," the Time Lord said. "Doctor's orders."
Derpy smiled embarrassedly, looking down and following him towards the section of the forest where Lilly and Hydran were. The Doctor swung her hand back and forth as they walked.
Lilly greeted them both when they arrived, her face paled but not stopping her thankful and relieved smile. Hydran's expression told she'd been like that for a while now.
"Before you ask, yes, I am okay," Lilly insisted automatically.
The Doctor watched her uncertainly before nodding. It was no use to argue.
"Perhaps we should venture onwards...?" he asked as a suggestion. But that wasn't where his mind was. It was on the subject of Derpy.
He'd been thinking on it - they both were. Derpy agreed to ponder on it for now and talk later, because each of them had said they'd had a myriad of different suggestions.
That, he knew, would be both an enticing and frightening conversation he couldn't wait to have with his assistant/girlfriend/lover.
The Doctor led his group of 4 through the forest (more like what was left of it) and they eventually reached the city. It was way busier than necessary and approximately, to the Time Lord's estimates, 72.5734% closer to giving him a headache than Jackie Tyler's nagging - especially from when she'd thought her daughter had gone missing and presumed her for dead... or anytime she was in danger to being with.
Which was all the time.
The Doctor sighed.
Derpy exhaled a "whoa" and tried to take in the scene as much as she could before venturing onwards slowly. "Avante!" she cried out, followed by everyone joining together in laughter.
/Lilly\\
"I guess mum's feeling better," Lilly laughed quietly to Hydran.
"Yeah," he agreed, chuckling. "You'd think if she's sick she wouldn't be telling US to get going."
Lilly laughed again, looking down before meeting his gaze and nearly tripping. He quickly caught her, however. "Thanks. And maybe dad said or did something."
"Oh, no, we got another Scarlet!" the dragon said in an alarmed manner. He then changed his demeanor an entire 180° to say, "And your welcome."
"No, no," she replied to his first comment. "Only one Scarlet is enough. I can't imagine having two."
"Oh, do forbid," he muttered.
After they reached the sidewalk (which didn't fit in for some reason in Lilly's eyes) that would prove as a bulwark to them and the street, the Doctor was approached by a woman handling a stroller. The blanket was covering whatever laid inside.
"Sir, do you mind helping me?" she asked impatiently.
Two words, "yes" and "no", appeared at the bottom of their vision. They all looked at the Doctor in a confused manner.
"Heck if I know what that means," he shrugged, laughing.
"T-thanks," she stuttered back sarcastically.
The woman walked away before anyone could try to stop or apologize to her, leaving them in a wave of mass confusion.
"Again with the stuttering," Lilly murmured loud enough to the travelers.
The Doctor groaned. "That was so unkind of me. I didn't say no!"
"Well, you said 'know'. Video game hardware must've interpreted it for 'no'. Sounds similar, anyways," Lilly reminded him.
The Time Lord exhaled. "I guess you're right. So I suppose we're walking on the boulevard of broken glass instead of dreams."
"What does that mean?" Hydran asked.
"Watch where you step."
/Derpy\\
Derpy grimaced at the returning stomach pain, resisting the urge to throw up by falling back and holding her daughter's hand tightly. Lilly frowned up at her, her eyes filled with excitement and confusion.
"Are you alright?" Derpy was asked by the psychic.
Derpy paused. "You know, to be honest, I have no idea."
/Lilly\\
Lilly paused for a moment before smiling encouragingly. "Don't worry, mum. You'll love the change should something strange begins. And, knowing you, you'll find a way to push through."
(Author's Note: Okay so I just referenced to 3 different songs, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams by Green Day, Good Advice (which is from an Alice In Wonderland musical), and Moonlight Shadow (which I've listened to through Nightcore). I'm hoping you got at least one.)
Derpy giggled. "You act as if you know what's wrong with me."
She shook her head. "Not a clue."
"12 days," Rachel declared softly after a pause.
Lilly ignored her Spirit Guide for now, waiting until Derpy walked back to the front of the group with the Doctor and Hydran (who hadn't heard their shushed conversation) to ask, "'12 days' until what?"
"Derpy and the Doctor will know in 10-12 days."
Lilly smiled. "That's adorable. And do you know how they'll react?"
"Nope!" she said over-cheerfully.
Lilly opened her mouth the speak but was interrupted by the honking of a truck. The Doctor gestured to his group to keep walking across the street.
/the Master\\
"Master, can I please just go get Jordan now?! I need a new member to my collection," Yvette pleaded.
"Not yet, my dear. Momentai, for we should wait it out."
"But Master!" she gasped. "Then we could have something to use against the Doctor!"
He pondered for a few moments before kissing her head and nodding. "You have a point. Yes, you may."
Yvette grinned toothily and hit the center of her vortex manipulator.
/Rachel\\
Rachel was now with Scarlet and Jordan, leaving Lilly to adventure with her parents and Hydran. Rachel was just as excited about Derpy and the Doctor's child as Lilly, even though she didn't know much about him/her.
She watched purple and colors similar to indigo appear in strands from the floor, reaching 1/2 of the ceiling's height. A fair-skinned woman with a green dress and black heels appeared with a menacing laugh.
"Jordan?" she declared. In a snap of her fingers both herself and Jordan disappeared.
Scarlet was flabbergasted. "Rachel, time to tell Lilly."
/the Doctor\\
They began to venture onwards but, again, were interrupted. However, this time, it was because Lilly gasped.
"No..." she murmured.
The Doctor lifted his finger to his lips as if to tell them to be quiet. They agreed, watching Lilly.
Lilly fearfully looked at them, meeting their gazes.
"Lilly?" Hydran asked softly.
"They got Jordan...," she said breathlessly.
/the Master\\
Yvette had Jordan tied in ropes with duct tape masked over her mouth. The Master scoffed.
"Isn't that a bit too overboard?" he pointed out.
Jordan nodded frantically, letting out a ring of muffled words out.
"Nah," Yvette grinned, "this is an understatement. She's a smartie, though, ain't she?"
"Correct..." the Master murmured, laying against the back of his seat.
Jordan changed her nods to hurried shakes of her head.
"Oh, but you are! You decoded the secret number for Soul Rider's adventures!" the Time Lord grinned.
"4... You've run into that quite a few times, haven't ya?" Yvette teasingly said.
"Oh, quite true."
/Lilly\\
Lilly was approached by Rachel.
"More news?" she asked the Spirit.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Rachel sighed.
"Appear; pray do tell."
Rachel did as asked and automatically began talking once they all watched her. "Doctor, what's with you and the number 4?"
He froze. "Do I have to?"
Derpy gripped his hand encouragingly. After looking down into his assistant's eyes, he took a deep breath.
"The Master was brought back to life and given superhuman qualities. He and the Ood told me that when... that when I hear someone knock 4 times, I'd regenerate into my next incarnation. I... When..." He had to pause for a few moments to gather himself. Looking down and talking quietly as if he was ashamed, he sighed. "Wilfred Mott knocked 3 times before I was able to sonic him out. That's when I dropped everyone off, and I stumbled upon Equestria."
Rachel nodded in understanding while Derpy kissed his cheek.
"So... You and the Master... Good or bad?" Hydran asked.
"... No comment."
"He's here," Rachel blurted out bluntly.
"What?!" the Doctor gasped, stepping back automatically.
"Doctor?" Derpy asked in surprise.
"Calm down, dad," Lilly said softly, grabbing his hand in unison with Derpy.
"He's got a girl named Yvette, and they have Jordan," she continued to explain.
The Doctor was paled by then, and Derpy and Lilly were hugging him to calm him down. "How could I have possibly been so blind?" he asked numbly. "4s in their birth-dates, 4 of us in one game, hell, it's always 4:44 P.M! The Master is behind this; he has to be!"
Suddenly, the background changed.
They were seemingly teleported into a dark-gray-walled, light-gray-floored room. Windows embellished it, showing brilliant views of space. There was a single chair that would swivel and pivot depending on where you'd lean, and in it sat a man so mysterious and powerful he could destroy whole worlds.
"The Master..." the Doctor allowed himself to whisper.
/the Master\\
"Yes, for it is I, my friend," the Master laughed, spinning his chair.
"But... B-but you're dead!" he exclaimed. "You died in my arms!"
"And you've been dead for 457 years," he shot back.
(Author's Note: Current age of the Doctor: 907. Age first Doctor/incarnation regenerated into the second: 450. 907(minus)450(equals)457.)
The Doctor's brown eyes were a brown mass wave of nebulousness, but it was easy to read his confusion from a mile away.
"How did you survive?" he was asked.
The Master shook his head. "Spoilers...," He murmured.
The Doctor forgot the topic for now, his eyes as hard as stone. "Where is Jordan?"
"Hmm... About that... Er, Yvette, how about you tell them?"
Yvette laughed, walking out on cue.
"I've put them into the interface," she laughed simply.
"See, Yvette here is pretty much the leader, I guess you could say, for Soul Rider," the Master said, beginning to spin in his chair again.
"What do you mean, 'interface'?" Hydran asked, ignoring the Master.
He stopped his spinning, looking as dramatic as could be. "Why, sure, just forget little old me," he slurred, spinning again.
"An interface is the sharing link that connects two separate components of a computer's sharing/exchange program, and it connects into one end of my game," Yvette explained, "that's where I keep my victims. Millions worldwide play the game but only the ones with 4s are chosen... Poor saps - stuck for eternity screaming to let them out, but no relief is given..."
The Doctor was now noticeably angry, along with the dragon-dude he couldn't help but think looked familiar. Scarlet had said Lilly was the girl with dark brown hair on a slant, and That Derpy had mismatched golden eyes. 'Easy to spot them out, the damned social outcasts...' he thought to himself. Lilly held Derpy's hand, and they both had an unreadable expression.
"Give us Jordan and the other 19 victims," the Doctor ordered.
"Or what?" Yvette shot back.
"Oh, shots fired," the Master chuckled. "I suppose it's quarrel-time. Oh, I love quarrel-time!"
"Or we take them back ourselves," he suggested, again ignoring the Master.
Yvette laughed. "How would you possibly achieve t-that?!"
She covered her mouth and froze, and the Master knew why.
She'd blown her cover.
/the Doctor\\
"Exactly! Just as I thought," the Doctor grinned after scanning her with his sonic screwdriver, "she's not real."
"What?" Hydran gasped, walking with Derpy and Lilly to the Doctor.
"The stuttering was only made by people on the video game. Also, it was only when they answered questions we didn't say together. Therefore, every time we went off the game's script and they answered, it was the stuttering that was the resulted noise of the internal circuits breaking and the character freaking out over it. Technically, the Master isn't playing the game, so they can talk freely together. But us? Master, tell me: am I right?" He spun around to see an empty chair.
"And... He's gone," Derpy sighed. "How?"
Lilly picked up a piece of paper and read aloud "'there's something called a 'vortex manipulator'" to their amusement.
"But where could he possibly go?"
Lilly flipped the paper over. "'I'm a Time Lord with a TARDIS!'"
The Doctor's eyes lit up and he rushed to one of the many computers. Derpy followed him.
"Yes... He's a Time Lord, a Time Lord just like me! I know where he's stored them."
It showed a blue screen asking for a username and a password.
"What're you gonna type?" his assistant asked.
"How about... username: sonic, password: screwdriver?" he jokingly suggested, using the said item to turn the screen automatically into the folder labeled "Yvette".
Derpy giggled at his joke, but started at the name. "Why is 'Yvette' labeled?" she asked.
"This is her brain. She's part of the game, so her brain is really just hardware stored into this computer," he explained. He then had his palm collide with his forehead. "No! Wait! Yvette is the interface! And the body she has is just a strewn together costume of hologram-imaging!"
The Doctor opened the folder labeled "people" and scrolled down the names.
Katherine Veil... Dakota Bryd... Daniel List... Lilly Scyt... Michelle Soke... Shadow Mose... Devyn Burs... Olivia West... Seth Gibson... Ruby Hamilton... Quentin Alen... Meghan Pars... Amos Moody... Ian Wals... Madeline Hunt... Tiffany Pham... Sean Huff... Luke Whelburg... Alan Murphy... Jordan Robinson.
Aside from all 20 names were the words "taken" and "delete". He was lost.
"Lilly, does Rachel know by any chance what each button'll do?" he asked.
Lilly, who was standing with Hydran and staring at the frozen Yvette, merely shook her head.
The Doctor looked at Derpy, who wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
"Derpy, any thoughts, my dear?"
She sighed. "Yvette said that they're trapped and in pain without relief nearby. If 'delete' means what I think it means, you should give them their freedom from the never-ending hell they're being put through," Derpy suggested. "And excuse my language."
"Do you really think so?" he sighed.
"I know how that feels, and I wished during every harmful second of it for someone to put me out of my misery when I was growing up in Ponyville," Derpy admitted softly after a pause. "This is their only chance."
The Doctor inhaled deeply before moving the mouse to the "delete all" button, and clicked.
Yvette disappeared.
The Doctor then hit the "yes" button on a pop-up window that read "cancel Subject: Soul Rider?", and the entire folder and game was deleted.
***(Time-Jump (2 Hours Later))***
(Author's Note: Yes, I know 2 hours doesn't seem like a lot to get from somewhere around noon to 8 P.M, but haven't you played a video game before? Time really does fly.)
Derpy cuddled against him while he sat up I'm their bed. Everyone but the Doctor and his assistant had fallen asleep minutes earlier.
"Hey," she murmured, "I thought you said we'd talk about this."
"Trust me," he laughed softly, "I haven't forgot."
"Well... What do you think happened?"
He paused, unsure of how to explain his thoughts.
"Derpy..., do you think that you're... I don't know, um... Do you think you're pregnant?" he managed to ask, flinching after thinking she'd overreact.
"Why are you flinching?" she asked, kissing his cheek.
"I thought you'd be offended," he admitted.
Derpy paused before clearing her throat. "Why would you think I'm pregnant? Just wondering."
The Doctor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and sighed heavily. "It's just... I mean... That's what happens when people do what we did, I guess. And, with you throwing up, morning sickness is a side effect."
His assistant thought it over as well.
"I think you're right," she finally admitted.
"Really?" he asked in a concealed gasp.
"Yes, I... I do," she smiled.
The Doctor grinned at her and weaved his fingers through her hair. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
She pondered for a moment. "It's not a good thing."
"Hmm?" he asked, completely shocked (and for some reason, guilty).
"It's a fantastic thing," she grinned, pecking his lips.
He embraced her tightly and she giggled in his grasp, kissing his cheek and then his lips again, pulling him as close as possible to her.
The Doctor kept kissing her passionately but it soon became rough, like they couldn't live without each other and that kiss. He laid on top of her when she laid down, and she smiled embarrassedly.
"I love you," he whispered without stopping their kiss.
"I love you, too," she said back in the same way.
After a few more minutes Derpy pulled away, blushing. They shared a laugh before laying on their sides of the mattress, but not long afterwards they found each other snuggling against each other once more. Derpy smiled, resting her head against his chest as the Doctor draped an arm over her stomach and resting hid chin on the top of her head.
"Goodnight, Doctor," Derpy whispered.
"Goodnight, mon amour," he whispered back.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the late upload, guys! Also, the reason I can't go too into depth between the entire Derptor thing and I can't type certain things, is because I'm only 12 years old. Obviously, that specific education (if you know what I mean...) hasn't been taught to me yet since I'm in with grade, so I'm sorry if you've been craving more action and it hasn't been delivered.
Again, sorry,
- GothicPegasister