The Meta Crisis.
Part 3.
Home Sweet Brigadier.
CHAPTER:
• Later that night :
They didn't even stay at the Leaky cauldron a full night, before Alistair came to pick them up. The drive was a few hours, in addition to the time it took to fill out the paperwork. However the Ministry tried to keep things as smoothly as possible, to not offend the former head of UNIT.
"No offense Brigadier," The Doctor asked, as the man was seated across from him, enjoying his dinner. "But I gave your name more out of habit... I wasn't expecting you to actually be ALIVE."
The Brigadier twitched his mustache. Then he sighed. "That's because I'm not from this Universe. I'm a Time Lord created Boekind, from during the Time War."
The Doctor stiffened, "The Time War never happened!" He insisted, "I undid it!"
The Brigadier frowned, before sighing. "Should have confirmed where you are, in the Timeline. Sorry Doctor, Spoilers."
The Doctor sighed, "Those don't apply to me. So feel free."
Alistair raised an eyebrow, but trusted the Doctor's word without question. Regardless, "This isn't the place to explain that, anyway. It will likely leave you both traumatized."
The boys stiffened.
"Let's stick to this universe, shall we?" Alistair insisted, "And this place is quite the... abnormality."
Alistair went on to explain, "This Earth is basically a utopia. Combining wizard magic with 'muggle' technology, allowed them to solve global warming, overpopulation, world hunger, and essentially 'vanish' all pollution and waste.
"Hermione Granger, former activist, turned Minister of Magical Britain, was elected as the Global President, 5 years ago. Bringing all of the world into a new Golden age of equal rights and economic prosperity. The U.N. has a lot more power, overseeing the Global President... which is a lifelong position, unless impeached. With each nation working more like the 'States' of America.
"Independent countries, with their own laws and cultures, that still have to obey the laws of the Global government. In exchange for being able to vote on their Representatives to the U.N."
The Doctor gaped.
"Finish your dinner Doctor," Alister insisted. "We have a long drive ahead of us."
"Bessie should make it in no time," the Doctor pouted, but reluctantly went back to eating.
"Not when you obey the speed limit." Alistair rolled his eyes. "I'm not about to activate her hyperdrive, for no reason... especially now that people can track things like that."
The Doctor continued to pout, shoveling food into his mouth. As he casually examined the Brigadier. The man felt... wrong... his temporal signature was all over the place... but at it's core... it reeked of fix point energy.
"You're a Boekin," The Doctor realized.
Jack dropped his fork.
The Brigadier smiled, leaning across the table, "you're companions are alive and well, on this world. The ones you know, the ones you took with you, not some interdimensional counterparts. But the ones from the Same Universe you come from.
"I can see it, in your void signature. You're MY doctor, and I'm glad to have you back... old friend."
The Doctor felt compelled to confess. "I'm a Meta Crisis."
The Brigadier smiled, "I know that, too. You're a slither of the Doctor's soul. A good few millenniums before we meet, properly. At least, from my point of view. You made the mistake of calling me 'dad' once, and so I was able to get out of you the basics of what happens here. I'll tell you what I can, what history demands I do, but there's also a lot I can't tell you."
The Doctor gave a firm nod, "Just so you know, I probably only came to call you 'dad' because you told me I would."
The Brigadier rolled his eyes. Then began his story. "When the Time War was rekindled, we were resurrected, as a new breed of Boekind. And we've been guiding and protecting this Universe, for thousands of generations."
"Why this universe?" The Doctor asked.
Alistair smiled, "Because your counterpart did the hero thing. After the Time War, they brought the survivors to this Dimension. Then sealed it off, after Miracle Day."
"What, exactly happened?" The Doctor asked.
The Brigadier frowned, "You sure you want the Spoilers?"
The Doctor's only response was a firm nod.
The Brigadier sighed, "You happened. You, and the original Doctor, got in a fight with the Master, over something called the 'Immortality Gate'.
"A wizard named 'David Monroe', helped you both drive him off. But then took possession of the device, and used it to cure every disease, and heal every wound, to genetic disorder, that infected the planet. For some reason, The original Doctor tried to stop him. and was easily defeated. Then you, little Meta Crisis, suggested a compromise.
"You locked the Destiny Verse away, within it's own Pocket Dimension... and later, when the Time War once again ended, your counterpart brought the survivors to this dimension... the fates did their thing, trying to reassert the Timelines. But because of all the interdimensional nonsense, they can't get a proper hold in this dimension.
"So we Boekind decided it's a good place to set up shop."
Jack listened quietly... "You're really Boekind?"
The Brigadier eyed him. "Yes Jack. Once you grow up, and get back to your own universe... your in for some rough times. But I promise you. Things will get better... and you won't have to spend eternity alone."
Jack couldn't help it. His childish body was overwhelmed, and he started to cry... after being alone for so long, just the idea that there would one day be people like him...
Once Jack recovered, after the Brigadier sat him on his lap, and hugged him. The only man at the table... and the greatest the Doctor's ever known, got to explaining more. With Jack blushing, as he was still being held... but not wanting to let go of the only other Boekind he's ever met... even knowing their was a whole village of him out there.
"I was dead for so long," Brigadier sighed, continuing his tale... mostly for Jack's benefit. "Trapped in a void, for hundreds of Millenia, I couldn't tell. Then the Time Lords fished out my soul. And put it in my younger body... and made that body as immortal as themselves."
"But for countless eons, I floated in a void of pure energy... caught between existing and not... I got to admit, the feelings of pure, mindless, bliss, were nice... but it was a pointless existence. So I was grateful when I was brought back... There was literally nothing in the afterlife... nothing."
The Doctor groaned, "That's just what the afterlife is, for a young Shinigami like Koenma. He can't create shared mental Illusions, at least, not yet. But he'll get there... it's just, right now, he's just a little thing.
The Doctor then rolled his eyes, "Shinigami play a vital role, in the cycle of life and death."
"Not if you break that Cycle," The Brigadier eyed him.
The Doctor glared, thinking he was talking about himself, "Even Boekind can die. It may take a few billion years. But Age will claim you, as it gets us all. There needs to be death," he insisted. "Dying gives us size, gives life meaning."
"Living gives life meaning," The Brigadier corrected. "Death just causes suffering. Without the ability to die, there would be no war... and there hasn't been, since the Humans of this Earth broke the cycle."
The Doctor gaped.
The Brigadier informed, "The humans of this Earth, have permanently ended death... we are no longer reliant on gods, who suffer from their own limited resources, and bureaucracy."
The Doctor frowned, then sighed. "Death is important, not even Time Lords live forever. And we certainly developed our own ways to cheat death... the universe must have balance...
The Doctor explained, "God is just an organism, like any other... we are just bacteria, that can be either detrimental, or helpful, to her survival. She cares about us, for the same reason you try to keep your body healthy.
"Higher Beings are essentially white blood cells. They protect God from bad bacteria, by sending out 'Antibodies', in the forms of champions, like me. But the higher beings also play a vital role. Ensuring the organs, or galaxies, keep functioning. Planets and stars are just the other cells, that make up each organ."
Jack was staring at him, "That isn't a metaphor... is it? The secrets of the universe really are that mundane."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "You humans, always imagining such grand stories, only to be disappointed by the real thing."
The Brigadier glared in thought, as he realized the point of that was. "You're talking about Beerus."
The Doctor blinked in surprise, "If you know about him... then you know, he's the Cosmic tool to ensure death and destruction. New Life can't be created indefinitely, the universe needs the cycle of death to function properly... if you truly found a way to end that, not just extend life... then Beerus will be coming, Galactus will be coming, Thanos will be coming, and a thousand and one other things that go bump in the night. The sheer number of Dementors, manifested from this... Beings that won't just wipe humanity off the map, but devour your very souls, for daring to step beyond their station."
The Brigadier smiled, "Good thing we have champions of our own."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "I may have taken on my share of gods... but not even I can help you withstand what is coming."
The Brigadier smiled, "Good thing I'm not talking about you."
As the Doctor glared in silence, Jack asked. "How can the planet support a population that can't die?"
"Magic," Alistair dismissed. "Wizarding farms can produce several harvest a day, every day. Plus Bigger on the inside Apartment complexes. We even got rid of sewers, as we made all homes completely self-sufficient. With large tanks of water, that vanish all waste, and permanently create an infinite supply of clean water. All powered by magical Crystals. Houses even cost less, thanks to how easy they are to build, with magic. With the inside split into estates, to comfortably fit the entire extended family. With law forbidding their repossession.
"Essentially, all new houses, apartment complexes, and buildings, are as big as your TARDIS, and can each fit enough people for their own small town. The biggest ones can fit 10,000 manors.
"How can that even HAPPEN!!!" The Doctor demanded.
Alistair shrugged. "It was a slow process, but with the aid of interdimensional ponies, and the 'Master of Death' Harry Potter, we created world peace."
The Doctor flinched back. He always thought humans were capable of great things... but these humans, to actually accomplish so much, and so quickly.
However, Jack caught something. "Interdimensional ponies?"
Alistair dismissed, "You'll have to see them, to believe it.
"They call it 'Miracle Day', When people stopped dying... when the wizards were discovered, thanks to irrefutable proof from a reporter, who infiltrated Diagon Alley... when Mankind learned we aren't alone in the universe... that this wasn't even the only universe. That gods and devils are real. That the soul... is real... with the equations to prove how none of these things were mystical.
"It felt like Humanity was one step closer to understanding the secrets of reality itself... and they were all so mundane.
"Thanks to the first wizard on the Moon, a Ronald Weasley, Who also invented the Space Galley, and later our Leyline vessels... these people have been exploring the stars, and even other universes, with their Leyline Ships. It's what attracted us to them."
"Us?" The Doctor noted.
The Brigadier waved off, "Spoilers."
The Doctor eyed, "More then just my 'Boekind Companions' then."
"I said drop it, Doctor," The Brigadier warned. "And finish your supper," as he pulled Jack's plate over, and let the boy eat his own dinner, while still in the Brigadier's lap.
"The Ministry man explained everything to me," Said Alistair. While the boys climbed into his car. "I signed the Paperwork, and don't intend to neglect my duty. I accepted full custody of you two. Even had your names legally changed to Lethbridge-Stewart.
"I'm now your legal guardian, and was told I should treat you like actual children, because your brain chemistry has been regressed." he looked at the Doctor, who was now playing with the window of the car.
"Honestly Doctor," The Brigadier sighed. "it's been decades since all my children left the house. I'm too old to raise more."
The Doctor sighed, "Sorry Brigadier, we can always just stay in the TARDIS until we're grown up,"
"We don't have the TARDIS anymore," Jack pointed out.
Alistair sighed, "Even if you did, the Doctor has a hard enough time caring for himself, under the best of circumstances.
"However, I want you to remember you ASKED me. So I expect you to obey the rules I lay down, and accept the consequences if you break them.
"The Ministry told me I need to treat you like actual children, and that's what I'm going to do, in ALL areas, understood?"
Jack perked, "Does that mean we get an allowance?"
Alistair groaned, "Yes you'll get an allowance. You'll also have your hides skinned, if I catch you doing something wrong."
Jack's smile turned devious, "So what your saying is, 'don't get caught'."
Alistair groaned, "I was the leader of the largest intelligence organization on Earth. You will ALWAYS get caught."
The next day, Jack and the Doctor found themselves with their pants around their ankles, as their bare bottoms were repeatedly swatted. They had already been caught.