Author's Note: This chapter is written by Namialus and dedicated to our friend ShogunNararii, who inspired us to think that a certain American Companion needed some American company.
"And to whom does this room belong?" asked Clara, opening a door with the word 'Nat' scratched on it.
"No one," said the Doctor, standing behind Clara. "She's not important." He motioned to grab the doorknob and close the door, but Clara quickly ran in before he could.
"Who's Nat?" she said. "Another old companion I assume. She's got a nickname, so she has to be important," Clara smiled.
The Doctor did not. "She's not important, and she's gone now. Let's just leave this room and you can ask about all the other companions." He walked out.
Clara started to follow, but stopped to look at a book on the floor. Its covers were leather, and on it was also written the word 'Nat'. Flipping through it, Clara realized that it was a diary, and began to read.
Natalie ran down the sidewalk, trying to get to her home as quickly as possible. "New Sherlock episode," she thought. And she could not miss it. It was 8:15 on a Sunday evening, and the service at her church had finished just minutes before. The sun had set, and Sherlock was about to air in another 15 minutes. The house was too far. Walking home by her normal route would take 20 minutes, meaning she'd miss the first five minutes of the episode, and Natalie could never do that. "There is a shortcut," thought Natalie, turning her head to the right, where there was a path through a small, wooded swamp. It would lead her right to the street of her building in less than five minutes. Natalie walked through the dark trees.
For as long as she remembered, her parents had never allowed her to walk through the swamp alone, especially after dark. And there she was, strolling through it alone in the night, with nothing but the flashlight from her phone to lead her. It isn't that scary; Natalie smiled. But then she heard a roar. Natalie froze, searching for the source of that sound. Slowly, she moved her arm to light the forest, but there was nothing but the trees and the path ahead of her. It's probably just a bird, she thought, until she felt a slimy hand grabbing the back of her shirt, lifting her off her feet.
Screaming as loud as she could, Natalie shook and kicked and waved her arms around, trying to get rid of the attacker. She managed to land a kick against the attacker's face, and it dropped her. Turning around to see who it was, Natalie saw a large, green figure of a man who wore no clothes. As she continued to stare, she realized he had gills, a tail, and webbed feet. A swamp monster. Natalie screamed even louder, turning back again to run home, but she bumped into a blue door with the word "POLICE BOX" lit on it. The door opened from the inside, and a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her through. At once the door was slammed shut behind her, and Natalie sank back against it in shocked relief, allowing herself to slide to the floor.
However, she couldn't help but notice her surroundings even above her pounding heart and through her fear shrouded mind. Or perhaps she was hallucinating, because this scene seemed impossible. A man in a brightly colored coat stood beside her while holding a ridiculously complicated and oversized piece of equipment. Further on, a young woman stood beside a pyramid table covered with all sorts of switches, keypads, and monitors. Although the man wore black and yellow striped pants with what must have been the most atrociously multicolored coat in human history, and the woman wore a green skirt paired with a bright blue and orange plaid shirt, the overall impression was a blinding shade of white everywhere. The floor was white. The ceiling was white. The walls were white with brighter white round indentations decorating them.
"Are you going to lie there all day?" asked the man impatiently.
Natalie inhaled deeply, and her mind cleared somewhat, "What? Oh, I don't think so." Wow, way to sound intelligent, Natalie. "Who are you?" she asked aloud as she sat up straighter.
"I, am The Doctor," announced the man with a somewhat theatrical manner and a British accent.
"And I'm Peri," added the young woman in an American accent Natalie could not quite place with a particular region.
"Natalie," she introduced herself as she prepared to stand up.
"Hello, Natalie, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance I'm sure. Now would you please move? You're blocking the door." The Doctor readjusted his grip on the bulky thing in his hands.
Out of annoyance, Natalie allowed herself to slump back against the door fully. "Where am I? How did you build this place in the swamp without anyone noticing? What's it for?"
"Doctor, I don't think a minute or two will make any difference, why don't you let Natalie recover at her own pace?" Peri suggested.
"I'm recovered, I just don't want to move until I get some answers," Natalie felt her sense of spunk returning as her initial shock wore off. "What are you holding, what are you doing, and what was that thing outside?" She crossed her legs in an attempt to look casual.
The blond man pointed energetically at Natalie, "Six questions, Peri, six! She has a curiosity to rival my own." He turned to look at his companion, "Why can't you incorporate more curiosity into your own personality?" Returning his attentions to the girl at his feet, The Doctor addressed Natalie, "To answer your questions: You're in my TARDIS. I didn't build it here in this wretched little swamp of yours, I moved it here in one piece. Its purpose is to travel through time and space, TARDIS is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. This is a tranquilizer gun I constructed out of spare parts. I'm going to use it on the creature which attacked you, a very misplaced and hungry Akuayam. Now please move."
"Okay," Natalie sprang to her feet, "let's do this."
Author's Note: Okay, we were just kidding ShogunNatarii, we know you don't really like the Sixth Doctor, did you honestly think our chapters dedicated to you would be about him?
Screaming as loud as she could, Natalie shook and kicked and waved her arms around, trying to get rid of the attacker. She managed to land a kick against the attacker's face, and it dropped her. Turning around to see who it was, Natalie saw a large, green figure of a man who wore no clothes. As she continued to stare, she realized he had gills, a tail, and webbed feet. A swamp monster. Natalie screamed even louder, turning back again to run home, but she bumped into a blue door with the word "POLICE BOX" lit on it. The door opened from the inside, and an arm grabbed her arm and pulled her through.
Natalie tripped onto the cold, hard floor of the phone box. She stared, her eyes widening in shock. It's bigger on the inside. "Where am I?" she said, worried that she was about to be kidnapped. "What is this place?" And then she looked at the man standing above her in a blue suit, and said, "And who are you?"
The man ran up the steps of the entrance towards a large console in the centre of the box. "You're in the TARDIS," he said, grinning. "It's a time machine," he said, playing with the controls. "And I'm the Doctor."
"Doct-doctor?" Natalie asked, standing up. "Doctor what?"
"Well," the Doctor said, "people don't normally put it that way… but that's not important. What is important is that there is a Akuayam from the planet Akuyarathafalimatorya out in your swamp right now and it might hurt a few people, so I'm trying to catch it and take it home."
The 'Doctor' spoke too fast for Natalie to understand half of what he had just said. "Catch it? It tried to eat me!"
"Well, actually, it only tried to suck your blood as its body is incapable of digesting solid foods," the Doctor said, running around the console.
"Suck my blood?" asked Natalie. "That doesn't make it much better!"
"Didn't think it would," the Doctor said, staring at a screen on the console. "Hmmmm… what should we do now…"
"Kill it!" shouted Natalie. "It'll hurt people."
"What is up with you humans and killing whatever you don't like?" the Doctor asked. "No, we won't kill it…"
"I'm not going back out there until you capture it then."
"You're just as stubborn as Donn-" the Doctor stopped, "nevermind."
"I want to go home," said Natalie.
"I assumed you did. Why were you walking home through that swamp anyway?"
"Um," Natalie said. Her reason for it probably sounded more ridiculous now that she had almost lost her life. "New episode of Sherlock…" Natalie checked the time. 8:30. "But I missed it now."
"Oh, Sherlock, love that show," said the Doctor. "You will cry at the end of Series 22. Now, go back out there."
"And kill myself?" asked Natalie. "No thanks."
The Doctor snapped his fingers and the TARDIS doors reopened. "The creature's gone, it's safe now."
Natalie looked through the doorway. There were no sounds in the swamp, only the path that would lead her home. "Where'd it go?"
"Probably found some prey- nevermind!" the Doctor shouted as the creature reappeared in the doorway, jumping at Natalie and into the TARDIS. The girl screamed.
"Get… him… off…. me….!" Natalie shouted, struggling under the monster's body weight. He smelled horrible, and his jagged teeth had blood stains on them. Attempting to bite Natalie's neck, the monster lunged at her. "HELP ME!"
After the loud sound of a 'bang', the creature suddenly stopped moving. Natalie slid out from under him, turning to find the Doctor holding a very large gun. "Stun gun," the Doctor said. "He'll be up in an hour… now let's take him home, shall we?" he smiled at Natalie.
"But what about me? I want to go home too," said Natalie. "My parents will worry."
"This box can travel throughout all of space and time. We can drop the Akuayam off, go to a cafe in Paris, and then take a walk through Egypt, and I'll still be able to drop you off before Sherlock begins. Now, what do you say?" The Doctor crossed his arms and leaned against the console.
Natalie wanted to say no, to listen to her parents and just go home, but the offer was difficult to refuse. "Too good to refuse," she thought, and with a smile, Natalie nodded.