Dreams Come True

by The Imaginationeers

From a world of blocks to one of living gemstones, the multiverse is an expansive place of infinite potential. But what happens if a human who grew up with this stuff through TV screens and the pages of countless books suddenly is forced into this fantastic world? Several changed lives, a found family, and a grand adventure, that's what. (Cross-posted on Ao3 and Wattpad)

55. Adrift In The TARDIS

I awoke with a start, flailing out of bed when the whole room shook from an explosion. The others in my room with me all cried out in shock, each one rolling out of their beds. I was with all the guys, each of us in a set of bunk beds, which made it utter chaos.

Ralph was luckily on a bottom bunk, but that didn't stop him from grunting in pain when Steve crashed on top of him. Majima crashed onto the ground from his top bunk, landing in a very awkward position, while Marco baulked down at him from his own bed. Zomboss was scared so hard he fell to pieces. Dave and Barranco fell off their beds and immediately sprung into defensive stances. Galacta's eyes snapped open, and Flowey snarled at the very rude awakening. Maple launched off his pot and onto my shoulders, making me sputter when I ate a face full of roots.

"Oh my god!" The flower shouted. "What the hell is happening?! I was dreaming such sweet things."

"So… you were dreaming of murdering people", Ralph said flatly. The flower flushed, and I sighed. Standing up, I briefly watched Zomboss attempt to reassemble himself, before taking Galadius out of the room. As I walked into the hallway, I could see the room across (the girl's room) had its door ajar. There were the sounds of similar chaos, and I met a very tired Jenny stumbling out.

"You guys too, huh?" She said with a slightly staticky voice.

I nodded, Gladius letting out a sigh. "It seems The Doctor is one for… very unique wake-up calls."

"Or he's just annoying", Jenny droned out.

We both exchanged a very tired look, then headed into the main room of the TARDIS. When we entered, we saw The Doctor covered in soot with several panels in the underside of the central console open. Wires were spilling out, and the man looked ecstatic.

"Uhhhh…" I said in confusion. "What are you doing…?"

The Doctor looked over at us, lifting the goggles he was wearing off his face.

"Oh right…" He mumbled, looking a bit lost. "I forgot I had guests." He mumbled something a lot quieter, then wiped his hands and face with a rag. "Sorry about the rude awakening, the TARDIS has been acting up."

I leaned over and looked into the machinery, only to flinch back when The Doctor slammed the panel closed. I shot him a look, but he just sauntered upstairs like nothing happened. Sharing a glance with Jenny and Gladius, we all followed after him, watching silently as he flicked random knobs and levers on the main console.

"So… what exactly do you do?" Jenny asked, looking around the room.

"I travel", The Doctor said. "Take in the sights of other planets, talk to the people, eat their food." He beamed at us like a child. "There's so much out there… but I can tell from you", he looked Jenny up and down, "And your friends that you've been everywhere." He suddenly pulled out the small device from yesterday, and clicked it on. A humming noise hit my ears as the green light at the tip aimed right at Jenny. She looked very uncomfortable.

A few minutes later he flicked it to his face and looked at it. He eyed Jenny waringly.

"Your build is very similar to a cyberman…" He looked Jenny right into her eyes. "But there's something… different about you."

"A Cyber-what?" She said in confusion. "Do you mean the Cluster?"

"Cyberman", I said, leaning against the railing. "A race of robot-human hybrids that forgo humanity and try to assimilate everyone to be like them."

"See, he gets it!" The Doctor said, pointing at me. "But I guess robots come in all shapes and sizes."

Jenny protectively brought her arms over her chest. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Just observing", he said. He paused, then looked at me. "How do you know about the Cybermen?"

I shrugged. "I heard a lot about you. Heard about your battles with Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels. You, facing the big and scary, pushing it aside like it's nothing, is incredible. You're a hero, and someone I look up to."

The Doctor seemed pensive at that praise, but eventually he flashed me a smile. Although that worried glint remained in his eyes.

"Plus, I agree. Bow ties are cool."

That made him perk up instantly. "Exactly! And Amy said they weren't. Wait till she hears that from you."

Gladius scoffed and Jenny giggled, earning a genuine smile from The Doctor. After that things fell into a comfortable silence, and we all quietly talked amongst each other as more of the others flooded out of the bedrooms. From the scowls shot at The Doctor, none of them were too happy about the sudden and very loud awakening.

He just brushed off the glares sent his way and did… whatever he was doing. It involved looking at screens and flipping random switches, that's all I could make out.

Steve sidled next to me, and he mumbled into my ear. "What is he doing?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe looking across time and space."

Steve let out a quiet hum that lacked conviction. I gave him a weird look, but didn't press, deciding to just go back to watching my grumpy and tired friends try and wake up. The Doctor was quietly chatting with Zomboss, supposedly about complicated science stuff (if the confused looks of the nearby Maria and Manolo were anything to go by), so I left them to that.

It was then I saw Marco walking towards the front door. "Uhhhh… dude, what are you doing?"

He yawned. "Just getting some fresh air…"

The Doctor looked up, and he grimaced. "Ah, Marco, that's not a good idea!"

"Relax, I've travelled all over with Star", he said in a calm tone. "Just need", he yawned, "some air…"

"No, Marco, wait!" The Doctor tried to push past, fumbling as he reached for the boy. But Diaz had reached the door, opened it…

Only for the vast expanse of space to greet him.

Marco yelped in shock and stumbled, falling out and gripping the bottom of the door frame.

"GUYS!" He called out in shock.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, I snorted, while everyone else gawked.

Except Star.

"MARCO!" She cried. Dashing over, she quickly slid on the ground, grabbed his arms, and pulled back onto solid ground.

"Doctor, you could have warned us we were in space!" Jenny complained.

The space man raised his hands defensively. "I was telling him to wait. Besides, I'm always in space, travelling around, seeing the sights, meeting the people."

Zomboss, having stepped around the two shaken kids, poked his head outside. "Gotta say, this is a beautiful view. Although it feels a bit… ominous…"

"Oh, that's because we're next to a supernova", The Doctor suggested casually. Our eyes all bugged out in his direction, and he happily hit a switch on the centre console. As the TARDIS slowly rotated, we all shifted our gazes to the open door, and at the sight of the explosive, bright, colourful, dangerous supernova…

We all comically screamed in terror.

Zomboss, Star and Marco all flung themselves at the doors and slammed them closed. They were breathing frantically, pupils the size of pin tips.

The air was thick for just a moment, before Majima burst out into an explosive laugh.

"You, motherfucker", the yakuza looked at The Doctor with a manic grin, "I like you a lot. If this is your normal, I'm all in."

We all shot him an exasperated look, and The Doctor looked very confused.

After a moment, I shrugged. "Eh, what can you do?"

"Anything but that!" Everyone sans Majima, The Doctor and Galacta shouted.

~X~

After… all of that, we quickly got our act together and fully finished getting ready. The TARDIS was surprisingly homey, with a pool, fully stocked kitchen, and a library. Currently, I was sipping on a glass of water, leaning against the bar with my company being The Doctor and Gladius.

"So, you've seen the death of the universe?" The sword inquired.

The Doctor nodded solemnly. "Yep. It was… silent. All the stars in the sky, burnt out. It was… something."

I shivered. "I would have nightmares of the end of the universe. Or the sun dying. It always haunted me. Love space like crazy, but it also is my sleep paralysis demon."

Doctor Who shot me a relaxed smirk, then returned to making his own cup of tea. "Ah well, when you've seen as much as I have, you know just what to do."

I nodded, but as I took a second sip, I saw he was looking at me again. "What?"

The Doctor hummed. "Just… thinking." He finished making his tea and instantly spun on the heel of his shoe, giving Gladius a scrutinising look. "About how I never heard of a flying, talking sword before." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and flashed it at the blade, who was clearly confused. "What are you?"

I shared a look with Gladius. "Well, he's how me and my friends travel. I use him to open portals, and we all travel across time and space like you."

"Yes, I get that", The Doctor said. "What I don't get is how I've never seen any of you before. I'm over 900 years old, and somehow your friend Jenny is news to me. I still think she's a Cyberman of… some kind."

I winced. "Trust me, she's nothing like them. Some of her best friends are humans."

"Then where did you all come from?"

Gladius took a deep breath, then looked at Doctor Who. "We are what we are… just not in the way you aren't."

The Doctor gazed at the sword, his face quickly shifting into horrific realisation. "No. No, you can't."

I paled. "Not in that sense!" I frantically called. "We travel the multiverse! But in a way where there are universes that work completely differently from each other."

The Doctor calmed down, looked at me, then shrugged. "So Zomboss was right then, alright."

I was forced into a spit take. "Zomboss told you already?! Then why all the questions?!"

"I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. He came off as someone who was way too… willing to lie."

There was a beat of silence, and I laughed. "Yeah, you're right. He can be very much a liar." I gave The Doctor a more questioning look. "And you're not upset about any of this? I'm sure he told you about… who I am."

He nodded, paused, then gave a 'so-so' hand gesture. "Sort of. All he said was that you live at the centre of the multiverse, and know a lot about all of us."

Gladius nodded. "That is right. And we are grateful you opened your door to us. Saves us having to set up a camp."

"I agree", Steve said, walking on into the kitchen. "By the way, Doc, something on the main console is sounding off. Looks like someone is calling for help."

The Doctor's smile shifted into a confused look. He quickly left the room, the three of us chasing after him. When we reached the centre room, I watched as he looked over one of the screens, then pulled a lever. There was a deep boom, and the TARDIS began to shake just the tiniest bit.

"What's going on?" Barranco asked, entering the room. Everyone else filled in shortly after, looking at The Doctor in curiosity.

"Everyone", the man began, "I want you all to stay here." He pulled the switch again, and the rumbling stopped. "I've got something I need to do, but where we are is very dangerous. So don't move." He dashed out the door, leaving us all figuratively scratching our heads. Literally in Ralph's case.

"Should we be worried?" The wrecker asked quietly, as if he was expecting The Doctor to hear somehow.

I shook my head. "No. This is The Doctor. Doctor Who himself. Whatever there is, he can handle it."

But I wasn't entirely sure about that, especially when The Doctor was gone for over an hour. The more time ticked on, the more unsure we all became. After nearly two hours, Majima hit a tipping point.

"Alright, I'm gonna go and crack the skulls of the shitheads that kidnapped our Doc. Who's with me?"

I raised my hand instantly, Gladius huffed but nodded, and Jenny scowled in determination.

"Then let's kill some fucks!" He charged out the door, the rest of us right behind him, and when we stormed out of the TARDIS…

We were met with Amy, Rory, The Doctor, a woman with red hair in the middle of a massive room…

Filled to the breaking point with Daleks.

The four of us froze as the TARDIS' door closed and locked, seemingly for security reasons, but I didn't even notice. I was too focused on the thousands of murderous alien warlords that were all staring at us with their cool single eyes.

"Uhhhhhh… Hey guys…" I squeaked out as Amy and Rory gawked at us. The Doctor winced as the red haired woman shot him a flabbergasted look.

"What… who are these?" She asked. Her tone was sharp, and made me tense up.

"Friends I made a while ago", the Doctor explained. "They're travellers, and needed a place to stay."

"Doctor", said a slightly robotic voice. Turning, I looked over and saw a weird one eyed fleshy squid in a glass capsule. "We only need your companions for this. Who are these… vermin?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm Caleb… and this is Jenny Wakeman, Goro Majima, and my companion Gladius." I pointed out each of my friends as we carefully slipped by the two Daleks next to the TARDIS and grouped up with Amy and Rory. Instinctually, I hugged Amy's arm, and she gripped my hand in reassurance.

The squid in the capsule hummed in thought. "Fine. You can come with him."

Jenny had this manic look in her eye, glaring ferociously at the massive group of Daleks. "Rory, Amy, what is happening?" Jenny hissed.

"We were kidnapped by a bunch of Daleks, what does it look like", Mrs.Pond snipped back. But it lacked the angry edge, showing how our inclusion in this didn't help things.

I gulped and watched as the Doctor was called up to the squid, as the red haired woman called him Prime Minister. With his face twisted into a worried scowl, he walked up to the capsule after having a brief conversation with the woman.

As The Doctor walked, I finally noticed how the woman and two men she was with had blue lights coming from their foreheads. The same blue as the Dalek's eyes.

"This is a load of horseshit", Majima hissed into my ear.

Jenny's arm twitched, as if she was getting ready for a quick draw. "If a single one of them move, I'm taking this whole ship down."

I gulped and nodded, returning my attention back to The Doctor.

"What do you know… of the Dalek Asylum?" The Prime Minister asked.

"According to legend", The Doctor began, "You have a dumping ground. A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle-scarred, the insane… even the ones you can't control." Jenny and Majima shared a horrified look, both of them subtly pulling out their smallest firearms. "It never made any sense to me."

"Why not?"

"Because you just kill them!" The Doctor was quickly becoming frustrated.

"It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred", the Prime Minister growled.

The Doctor looked back at him in horrified disgust. "Offensive?"

"Does it surprise you to know the Daleks have a concept of beauty?"

I shuddered, and Jenny looked at me in worry.

"I thought you've run out of ways to make me sick…" The Doctor spat back. "But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful."

"Perhaps that is why we haven't been able to kill you…"

Majima's one eye wided, his grip on his pistol tightening, and Jenny's eye twitched violently, trying everything she could to not go war machine on the Daleks. But all of that was stopped when a hole opened in the middle of the white marked area we were standing on, and looking down I could see a snow covered planet surrounded by a force field.

"The asylum", The red haired woman explained, "it occupies the entire planet, right to the core."

"How many Daleks are in there?" The Doctor asked.

"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."

Gladius squirmed at the mentioned number.

"Also alive?"

"To be assumed. The asylum is fully automated; supervision is not required."

"Armed?" Amy asked.

The red haired woman looked at her. "The Daleks are always armed."

"What colour?" Rory asked. We all paused and looked at him in confusion, and he looked back sheepishly. "Sorry, there weren't any good questions left."

And that made it all click in my head, especially when a transmission from the planet was played over the speaker. It was some classic Renaissance era music, probably by Mozart.

"WHAT IS THE NOISE? EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN!" A white, much more sleek Dalek demanded from the console in front of the Prime Minister.

The Doctor raised his hand. "Oh oh, it's me." He had this goofy smile on his face as he pretended to hit a musical triangle.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jenny said in a deadpan tone.

"It's me, playing the triangle", The Doctor's goofiness faded quickly. "Alright, I got buried in the mix." Majima snorted, and I tried and failed to keep my laughter hidden. Amy shot me a pointed look, and I stopped. "Carmen, lovely show." He walked back up to the console and flashed his sonic screwdriver at it. "Someone's transmitting this- Have you considered tracking back the signal, and talking to them?"

None of the Daleks had anything to say, all silently watching The Doctor in a cold, calculated gaze. Although the red haired woman looked a bit sheepish she hadn't thought of that.

Doctor Who looked around, saying "He asked the Daleks" in a flat tone. He then looked down at the console.

"Hello? Hello! Carmen! Hello?"

Just faintly, I heard a female voice echo back her own "Hello."

"Come in come in. Come in Carmen." The Doctor hit some buttons on the console.

"Do you read me?" A voice responded. It definitely was a young woman, and from the look on my friends' faces, that wasn't good.

"Yes, reading you loud and clear", The Doctor announced matter of factly. "Identify yourself and report your status."

"Hello." The woman sounded in disbelief. "Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"

"Yep, confirmed, actually properly real." The Doctor was leaning against the console with a grin. Jenny gave him a bored look and crossed her arms at how he was acting, but I just shrugged.

"Oswin Oswald", the woman started, "Junior entertainment manager Starship Alaska current status crashed and shipwrecked somewhere… not nice." There was a pause as I heard her take a breath. "Been here a year, rusted a crew, missing provisions, but keen to move on."

"Damn she sounds happy", Majima stated bluntly as he scratched his chin. He looked utterly bored despite the glares the five of us shot at him.

But one part of her ramble seemed to catch all of our attention. "Wait… a year?" I whispered, sharing a worried glance with Rory and Gladius.

The Doctor shared this worry. "A year?" He clearly didn't like this one bit. "Are you okay? Are you… under attack?"

"Some local life forms… Been keeping them out."

"Do you know what those life forms are?"

"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."

The Doctor's cheery demeanour was slowly melting into a growing horror. "What have you been doing… on your own, against the Daleks… for a year?"

Oswin took a second to respond. "Making soufflés?"

That perked The Doctor right up, although it was more of a strangled, forced joy. "Soufflés, against the Daleks." He looked over his shoulder at the sleek white Dalek, and shifted into seriousness again. "Where'd you get the milk?"

"THIS CONVERSATION IS IRRELEVANT." The Dalek moved forward and cut the channel.

"No, it isn't!" The Doctor spat. "Because a starliner has crashed into your asylum, and someone's got in. And if someone could get in, then everything can get out- A tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."

Jenny grit her metal teeth, and I hugged more into Amy's side. She returned the gesture by squeezing my hand tighter. Majima growled and tightened the grip on his pistol to the point I was worried he'd accidentally pull the trigger.

"THE ASYLUM MUST BE CLEANSED", the Dalek roared back.

"Then why is it still here?" The Doctor was clearly frustrated. "You have enough firepower on this ship to blast it out of the sky."

"The asylum force field is impenetrable", the red haired lady said.

"Turn it off."

"It can only be turned off from within the asylum."

I had to stop myself from facepalming. Gladius and Jenny did, Majima cursed under his breath, Rory let out a tired breath and Amy tensed. For such a vicious race of racist, violent robot genociders… they weren't very smart.

"A small task force", The Doctor said, walking away from the console, "could sneak through a force field. Send in a couple of Daleks."

That's when he froze, noticing the lack of response, and my eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh." The Doctor sarcastically clapped. "Oh… ah that's good, that's brilliant. You're all too scared to go down there. Not one of you will go, so tell me… What do the Daleks do when they're too scared?" He looked the white Dalek right into its orange eye.

"THE PREDATOR OF THE DALEKS WILL BE DEPLOYED."

"You don't have a predator, and even if they did why would they turn off a force field for you?"

"Because you will have no other means of escape", the Prime Minister spat. I could tell if he had a mouth, he'd be smirking.

"May I clarify", the red haired woman said calmly, "The predator is the Daleks' word for you."

"Me?" The Doctor spat indignantly. "Me?!"

The woman nodded her head, and the two other men approached The Doctor and strapped something around his wrist. "You will need this. It will protect you from the nano-cloud."

"The what? The nano-what?" The men dragged Doctor Who back to us.

I missed what else she said when a bright white beam emerged from the hole, making me jump.

"You're going to fire me at a planet?" The Doctor sounded so done with everything. "That's your plan? I get fired at a planet, and expected to fix it."

"In fairness, that is slightly your MO", Rory said.

The Doctor shot him a look of betrayal. "Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me at a planet." Although that shifted when the men stuck the same bands onto the rest of our wrists. He looked back over at the Dalek. "What do you want with them?"

"IT IS KNOWN THE DOCTOR REQUIRES COMPANIONS."

Rory rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh… brilliant. Good O!"

"Don't worry, we'll get through this I promise. Don't be scared."

Amy looked at him with an odd twinkle in her eye. "Scared? Who's scared?"

"Just the Cluster all over again", Jenny growled.

"Geronimo, motherfuckers", Majima snarled in glee.

The Doctor laughed, only to shout in surprise when one of the men shoved him into the beam. All of us followed suit shortly after, all shouting in terror as we blasted to the planet. I was spinning, Jenny, Majima, The Doctor and Amy were all feet first, and Rory was barreling down head first.

I blacked out for a second, only to shoot awake when I noticed I was face first in the snow. I sputtered and spat out the snow, shivering a bit before taking in my surroundings. Nothing but snow covered rocks for miles. Quickly, I looked around to see who I was with,and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Amy and Gladius next to me.

"Hello?" A new voice called. I spun around and saw a man in a white winter coat, hood up, looking at me in very slight fear. "Hello, who're you?" Amy opened her eyes and looked at the man straight into the eyes, scrambling up when she fully came to. I helped her keep steady as she looked around.

"Rory?" I shivered when it hit me. It was just the three (I guess four) of us. "Doctor?"

"Jenny?" I called out.

"Goro!" Gladius barked.

"I'm Harvey", the man introduced. "I'm-" he stopped his introduction when Amy walked off looking for our friends, me and the sword close behind. "Who's Rory?" We didn't answer. "Where ya' going?!" We kept running, stumbling over mounds of snow as we approached our bow tie wearing friend. He was on the ground, looking at something.

"Doctor!" I called out. He stood up and turned to us, catching Amy before she could fall. I, being completely sensible, hugged his side, and he put an arm on my back.

The Doctor looked between the two of us. "Where're the others?"

"There was another beam", Harvey said, earning our attention. The mysterious man pointed over a hill. "There. Over there!" That was enough, and the Doctor ran in the direction Harvey had pointed. Amy, me and Gladius were close behind, the snow making it oh so difficult. After a bit, we reached… a hole in the snow.

A deep, dark hole that reached deep into the planet. All four of us leaned over, looking down.

"Rory?" Amy called down.

No response.

We leaned down more. "Rory." Amy was getting worried.

Again, no response.

"Rory!" She screamed.

Still nothing. I took a deep breath, then finally acknowledged the other man that was with us.

"So what's your deal, Harvey?" I said, standing back up.

He opened his mouth to say something, then sealed it back up. "I'll explain on the way." He gestured us to follow him, and we begrudgingly did so.

"We came down two days ago", he explained as we approached a metal hatch peeking beneath the snow. "There were twelve other escape pods." He pulled the latch and it began to open. "I don't know what happened to them."

I was a bit confused, and kicked some of the snow under me. The name of the buried ship was revealed.

Alaska.

"What?" Gladius said in confusion.

"Alaska… That's the same ship as Soufflé Girl", Amy pointed out.

"Yeah…" The Doctor began, a creeping horror growing in my chest. "Except she's been here a year." The three of us shared a glance, then followed Harvey into the ship.

We walked over to a compartment and opened it, looking for some rope for us. I, meanwhile, looked over the seats, most filled with people in identical coats.

"Not even a hello", Gladius grumbled.

"I don't think that's by choice, Gladius…" I said in fear. I hugged Amy when she finally stood on the solid ground.

"Won't you introduce us to your crew?' The Doctor asked.

"Uh, yeah sorry", he looked over at the unmoving coats. "Uh, guys, this is The Doctor, Amy, Caleb and Gladius." The Doctor saluted with a smile, but no greeting came.

Amy tightened her grip on my hand when all we got was a chilling silence.

Harvey paused his search, looking over his crew in confusion. "Guys?"

The four of us shared a brief look, and The Doctor walked up and patted the nearest crew member on the shoulder. This knocked the head back…

Revealing a frozen corpse.

"My god…" Harvey mumbled out in horror. The Doctor pulled back the hood, and I clutched Amy tighter when I looked at the rotten, hairless head.

Amy and Gladius moved in front of me in a protective manner as Doctor Who scanned over the corpses with his screwdriver.

"They're dead", The Doctor stated. "All of them."

"That's not possible", Harvey said in denial. "I just spoke to them. Two hours ago we were doing engine repairs."

The Doctor pulled back another hood, the lifeless body remaining unresponsive. "Sure about that, are you?" The Doctor walked around the seats, the other three of us remaining opposite of him. "Cause I say they've been dead for a very long time."

"But they can't be…" Harvey said quietly.

"But they couldn't get like this in two hours", I argued, eyeing our new ally in worry. "Unless you've been unconscious and feasting on them like a cannibal, you should be dead…"

Suddenly, a look of remembrance came across Harvey's face. "Of course… Stupid me…"

Amy looked at him sharply. "Of course what?"

"I died outside", he said in a monotone voice. The Doctor looked up from his musing, and my eyes bugged out. "And the cold preserved my body." He faced the time traveller with a vacant look. "I forgot about dying."

Then, much to my and Amy's horror, an eye stalk exactly like the Daleks emerged from Harvey's forehead, Gladius gasping in shock.

The Doctor, always quick to act, grabbed a fire extinguisher and started pushing 'Harvey' back with the cloud. "Gladios the door!" The sword acted quickly, fiddling with the controls by the ladder till the sliding steel door opened. He jolted back so 'Harvey' could be pushed inside, and when he was in, Gladius closed the door and locked it.

I breathed a shaky sigh of relief while the… thing… pounded on the metal in a desperate attempt to free himself.

"Explain", Amy said, releasing the fearful breath she kept in. "That's what you're good at. How'd he get all Dalek'ed?"

"Because he wasn't wearing one of these", The Doctor explained, holding up the wrist with the strange band on it. "Ho ho ho… that's clever. The nano-cloud."

I shared a look with my bladed companion. "Doctor, a nano-cloud? The heck does that mean?"

He began to walk around the dead crew members, continuing his explaination. "Microorganisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet."

Gladius shuttered. "That's deplorable. Those… those beasts!"

The Doctor let out a laugh, smacking one of the corpses on its head. "Anything that attacks this place automatically becomes part of the on-site security."

"Living or dead?" Amy asked. My eyes widened in horrific realisation, and my gaze drifted over the four dead people we were currently standing with.

"These wristbands protect us", Doctor Who continued, ignoring Amy's question. "The only thing stopping us from becoming-"

"Doctor", I cut in through grit teeth, silencing him. He looked at me in silence. "Living or dead?"

He shrugged. "Yes, exactly. Living or- or…" He stopped when it finally clicked, and we all looked over at the nearest corpse slowly as the gruesome sound of flesh ripping and bones cracking hit our ears.

All four dead crew members slowly rose to their feet, Daleks eyes out of each of their foreheads. They all turned to us, and I visibly paled.

"Oh dear…" The Doctor mumbled. As the four undead Dalek'ed humans advance on us, we spun around, remembered 'Harvey' was still behind the door, and decided the other door across the room was our best course. The Doctor scaled over the seats, kicking one of the monsters back while me and Amy tried to dash around on the left side. I had Gladius in hand, swinging him defensively whenever me or Amy were about to be touched. When we reached the door, I pushed Amy in, but one of those things got her arm.

She shrieked. "Doctor! Caleb!" I gasped and acted quickly, batting at the thing's arm with Gladius. The Doctor was hugging Amy, and when the grip of the monster's hand weakened because of my assault, The Doctor kicked the door controls and sealed the door. Amy and I pressed our backs on the sealed door, and Doctor Who joined us when he hit the lockdown switch.

Collectively, all four of us shared a loud sigh of relief, then looked at each other.

"Is it bad that I really missed this?" Amy asked The Doctor, a silly smile on her face.

"Yes", The Doctor breathed out.

I rolled my eyes. "Tag along with us and you'll be singing a different song, Doctor."

Gladius snorted, and shared a look with the two adults. "Kids. They can be oh so blunt."

I smirked, only to jump when I heard a new voice.

"Unauthorised personnel may not enter the cockpit", Oswin said through the intercom. I sighed again, letting all the tension flood out of my system.

"Shut up", The Doctor grumbled, heading over to what looked to be a camera in the wall.

Oswin scoffed. "Mr.Grumpy. Bad combo… no sense of humour and that chin."

I burst in a fit of giggles as Amy and Gladius approached The Doctor's sides.

"Is that her again, Soufflé Girl?" Amy asked.

"Oswin Oswald", Gladius corrected, earning a scoff and eye roll from Mrs.Pond. That made my giggles louder.

"Yeah, she-" The Doctor stuttered, briefly looking over at us, then back at the camera. "Ok, what is wrong with my chin?"

"Careful dear, you'll put someone's eye out." Amy snorted and I just lost it, clutching my stomach as I laughed. One look at The Doctor's sharp glare, and I calmed down. "I'm scanning you. You're in another of the escape pods of the Alaska, right? Says your power's on."

The Doctor sputtered for a moment. "How can you hack into everything, it should be impossible, you're in a crashed ship!"

"Long story." A quick pause. "There a word for total screaming genie that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy." I could hear Oswin's cheeky smirk just from that alone, and that made me smile.

"Doctor", The Doctor said with a smirk. "You call me The Doctor." Gladius snorted this time.

"See what you did there." A beeping came from her end. "Check the floor. I'm picking up a breach at floor level, there could be a way out. See ya' later!"

We all teamed up and moved some of the miscellaneous supplies till we saw a closed hatch. A bit of blue rope was fed through the opening used as the handle.

"Looks like it's already been used before and block it off behind them…" The Doctor said, brushing his hand across the metal surface.

Me and Amy looked over when our pursuers slammed on the sealed door. After a moment, Amy looked back at Doctor Who. "Can't imagine why."

"The lower part is buried", ther time traveller spun his screwdriver and holstered it, 'So this must go straight down to the asylum."

"Where the others are?" I said hopefully.

The Doctor flashed me a smile. "Yeah. But…" He looked at Amy, his eyes glinting with sadness as he tried to open the hatch. "Is there anything you wanna tell me?"

"Are we gonna do this now?" Amy spat back in frustration.

Another loud slam from the door made Gladius look at it, then snap back to the rest of us. "I'm with Pond, Doctor. Whatever you want to say can wait for later."

"What happened?" The Doctor pressed, ignoring the sword.

"Oh, pfft, stuff, you know. We split up, what can you do?" Amy shrugged it off.

Me and Gladius stopped and looked at her in sadness, but The Doctor was the only one who found his voice. "What can I do?"

Amy looked at him, staring deep into the man's eyes. "Nothing. It's not one of those things you can fix like you fix your bow tie." Almost instinctively, she adjusted said bow tie. Me and The Doctor just stared at her. "Don't give me those big wet eyes, you teo. It's life. Just life, that thing that goes on when you're", she looked directly at The Doctor, "not there." She then looked at me. "And you don't need to worry, either. Just… please."

I shared a look with Gladius, and when he nodded, I relented with a sad sigh. "Okay…"

The conversation halted when a loud bang sounded off, this time from the newly unlocked hatch. Without saying a word, the four of us lifted it open and looked down. A simple rope ladder went deep underground, a bright pale orange light keeping us from seeing the bottom.

"Okay, so someone else got out this way then", Amy said.

"Yeah' let's go find-" The Doctor was cut off when the door slammed again. Only this was more of a slam to get our attention. Looking over, a screen over the door controls was on, and the four monsters were seen in it. "Oh, 'ello 'ello 'ello." The Doctor ran up and looked st the screen. "What are they up to?"

Me and Amy joined him, and we noticed the beasts were waving something. "What is that?" Gladius asked.

The Doctor flashed his wristband. "One of these. But where did they get it?"

Amy suddenly raised her arm, and my heart dropped. "Guys… they got it from me."

"Oh Amy…" The Doctor breathed out. I shook my head and instantly hugged her side. She put her arm on my back while The Doctor held her other arm.

"Doctor, what's going to happen to me seriously. Tell me, what…"

I gulped, and she looked down at me. I pointed at the screen. "You'll become like them…"

Amy's eyes widened, but luckily Gladius was there to keep peace. "We just need to act fast, then. C'mon." He headed over to the open hatch and looked down. "We need to save our friends, Oswin, and deactivate that shield." He glided into the hole, and I gulped.

The Doctor sighed. "If we're fast, we don't need to worry about it. Let's go."

As The Doctor began to descend the ladder, Amy looked at me in worry. I smiled up at her, and we went over and began our own descent into the asylum.

~X~

After we did the impossible task of getting to the bottom of the ladder, things were looking bleak for Amy. How could we tell? Well, as he reached the floor, The Doctor had just finished explaining to Amy what would happen to her, and how we could tell she was being Dalek'ed.

Only thing, that was the fourth time he told her.

Her memory was slipping, and everytime Doctor Who reexplained it, my heart would lurch in pain. It was horrifying seeing Amy slip through the cracks this bad this fast, but considering it was Dalek technology… I wasn't surprised. Cold, heartless killers till the end.

And now we were in their asylum, filled with so many Daleks that were so utterly fragmented and insane that it was too much for even the best Daleks.

That thought sent a shiver up my spine.

Gladius stayed close to me and Amy, The Doctor hoping my presence would help ground her just long enough so we could finish up here and get out of here and keep Mrs.Pond from becoming a mindless puppet.

"Hang on to scared", The Doctor told her as they hugged. "Scared isn't Dalek."

While this was happening, Gladius messed around with the door controls so the door in front of us raised. The distant sounds of Daleks screaming "EXTERMINATE" over and over hit my ears as we looked over the empty room.

"What's that?" Amy asked. The Doctor said nothing, so we took a step back so Gladius could close the door.

"Keep a lookout", Doctor Who said, gently holding Amy's head. He then knelt down a bit to my level and did the same to me. "Don't open this door." He began to walk down the hallway, calling for Oswin. As he did, Amy winced and placed a hand on her forehead.

I hugged her arm. "Stay with us, Amy… C'mon, just hold on out for a bit longer…"

"I'm… trying, Caleb", she whispered. Looking down at me, she took a deep breath and relaxed. "Thanks."

I smiled, holding her hand tighter. "You're my friend. And I will go to the edges of the universe to protect my friends." My smile fell a bit. "Even from the monsters inside…"

But it was then I noticed Amy wasn't looking at me, instead gazing into the empty room with a vacant look that reminded me way too much of 'Harvey'.

"Pond?" Gladius asked in concern.

"Who are you?" She responded in a whisper. Her gaze was still looking out to the room, and I frowned. Looking into the room, my blood ran cold as I saw several Daleks suddenly there, covered in dust and rust.

I was startled when she reached over and opened the door, stumbling into the room. My eyes bugged out, and I tried to stop her, but she just wiggled out of my grasp. Gasping, me and Gladius chased after her trying.

"Amy!" I hissed fearfully, my eyes darting between her and the Daleks. Luckily they didn't seem to notice us just yet. "C'mon, this isn't funny we need to go!"

The Doctor came running into the room, but Amy just calmly spun around and held up a hand. "Shhh, it's okay, it's just people here." I shook my head frantically and backed away till I was with The Doctor, Gladius defensively pointing his blade at the beasts. "It's just people…"

"It's the nano-cloud, it's altering your perception", The Doctor quietly explained, "Look again. Those aren't people."

She looked back at the 'people', and from how stiff with fear her body went, she finally came to.

"Amy, please, we need to go!" I grabbed Amy's hand and followed Gladius and The Doctor back into the hallway towards the ladder as one of the Daleks began to chase us. It was slow, but it didn't make it any less terrifying.

The Doctor made to climb the ladder, but…

"Nope, they're coming down!" Amy called. Looking up, I saw that yes, those undead crew members were now climbing down the ladder.

"How'd they get past the blasted door lock?!" Gladius yelled.

"We'll worry about that later", The Doctor said, scrambling away from the ladder. We were about to run the other way, but were greeted with the Dalek from before.

"INTRUDER", it droned out, repeating the word again and again. Quickly, the Doctor pulled us into a small cubby, but all stilled when we heard something weird. Looking around the corner, I saw the Dalek try to shoot us with his laser, but all that came out was a harmless blue puff of smoke.

We all came out of our hiding place, looking over the harmless killer. "It's damaged." The Doctor said.

"Okay, but what do we do?" Amy asked.

"Well, think of something fast!" Gladius growled, defensively blocking us from the ladder. "We're cornered, and I don't know if I can kill these freaks with these beasts with the nano-cloud around!"

The Doctor looked over for a moment, then straight into the Dalek's eye. "Identify me. Access your files. Who am I? C'mon… who's your daddy?"

"YOU ARE THE PREDATOR."

"Access your standing orders regarding the predator."

"Doc, is this-" I began, only to be hushed with a raised hand. I gulped and looked back over at the ladder, hugging Amy's arm again.

"THE PREDATOR MUST BE DESTROYED!"

"And how are you going to do that? A Dalek without a gun, you're a tricycle with a roof." The Doctor leaned in close. "How are you going to destroy me?"

There was suddenly an alarm coming from the Dalek, and I tensed. "SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED."

"Crap!" I cried, and Gladius snapped his attention to the metal shell.

The Doctor, as quick as he could, pulled out his screwdriver and blinked it at the Dalek. He lifted its dome, buzzing inside at the robot's internals.

"SELF-DESTRUCT CANNOT BE COUNTERMANDED!"

"I'm not looking for a countermand, dear", The Doctor said in a snarky joy. He dropped the dome and it clanged back into place. "I'm looking for reverse."

I let out a breathy laugh as I watched the Dalek speed off backwards, constantly repeating "FORWARDS" like it would help at all. It flew into the room with the other Daleks, and when it collided with another one.

BOOM.

A fiery explosion ripped all the Daleks in the room apart, and I stumbled as the whole asylum shook from the force of the blast. Luckily, Amy kept me on my feet, and I shot her a grateful smile. But that quickly shifted to fear when Amy fainted suddenly, and I was just barely able to catch her. The Doctor was quick to act, lifting her up bridal style and led us into the room.

"Who killed all the Daleks?" A voice amongst the Dalek corpses said. Looking over, I beamed when I saw Rory, Jenny and Majima all looking around at the carnage, then at us.

The Doctor smirked. "Who do you think?"

Majima let out a laugh as Jenny dashed over and brought me into a hug. "Damn, Doc. That was fucking hardcore. I'm pissed I missed it!"

"Yeah, sure", Jenny grumbled. She looked over at Amy in worry, then back to me. "Guys, what happened?"

I looked over at the ladder, the shaking getting more violent as our original pursuers neared. "We'll explain when we get somewhere safer."

Rory snapped his head at me, and nodded. "Over here. Oswin said it was safe… mostly."

That didn't exactly inspire confidence.

~X~

We were all stationed in a central room of sorts, and Jenny was quickly able to deduce it was our exit. Amy was resting on the ground, sleeping quietly as me, Who and Rory knelt over her. Majima, Jenny and Gladius were each at three of the four doors, guarding them with steely glares.

"Will sleeping help her?" Rory asked Who. As we made it to the room, I had explained what the wristbands were all about, and a sense of dread fell over us. "Will it slow down the process?"

"Better hope so…" Oswin said in dread, making us look at one of the cameras she was using. "Because pretty soon she's going to try and kill you…"

The three of us shared a glance, only to look down when Amy began to stir.

"Amy", The Doctor said calmly. "Still with us?"

"C'mon, Amy, fight it…" I said in quiet encouragement.

"Amy… it's me", Rory started. "Do you remember me?" That got him a slap on the face from the woman. I snorted, my body shaking with sealed laughter. "She remembers me."

"Same old Amy", Who added cheekily.

I breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and shaking the tension from my body.

"You know how you make someone into a Dalek?" Oswin said, almost in a wistful tone. ""Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?"

Amy lifted her head, looking at the camera. "We'll, someone's never been to Scotland."

I nodded. "Scottish blood running through these veins." Majima barked out a laugh, and Jenny smirked in my direction.

"What are you though, Oswin?" The Doctor said, his eyes glaring at the camera. "How are you okay? Why hasn't the nano-cloud converted you?"

Me and my friends' eyes widened, and we all looked at the camera in silent realisation.

"I mentioned the genie thing, yeah? Shielded in here." Oswin sounded so sure, but… something was off.

"How can you be shielded, but have stuff to make soufflés?" I whispered, trying to wrack my brain around this. Rory and I shared a glance as we helped Amy to her feet.

The Doctor hummed. "Clever of you. Now", he jumped down and approached the camera, "this place, the Daleks said this place is fully automated. But look at it." He swept his gaze over the room, looking over the spilled out wires, barely functioning machinery and flickering lights. "It's a wreck."

"We'll, I've had nearly a year to mess with them, and…" Oswin paused, as if she was looking over the room she was in. "…not a lot else to do."

"A junior entertainment manager hiding out in a wrecked ship hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has ever seen", The Doctor rambled. "BUT, you know what really gets me about you, Oswin?" We all watched as he paced around the room. "The soufflés. Where do you get milk?" He walked back up to the camera. "The soufflés…" He looked back at us. "Seriously, is no one else wondering about that?"

I nodded, and approached the camera. "I have."

"No", Rory said in frustration. "Frankly, no. Twice." I shot him a look, pursing my lips.

"So… Doctor", Oswin continued. "I've been looking you up. You're all over the database, why do the Daleks call you 'The Predator'?"

"Not a predator", he said cheekily, "Just a man with a plan."

"Yeah, a plan that got us all roped up in this…" Majima grumbled faintly. Jenny glared at him.

"You've got a plan?" Oswin sounded in disbelief.

"We're all ears", Rory said in exacerbation. I frowned at the tension that was clear between him and Amy.

"There's a nose joke, going if someone wants to pick that one off", Amy mumbled, pointing at Rory. He rolled his eyes, and I saw Jenny and Majima share a confused look. Time travel be damned.

"In no particular order", Who began, "We need to neutralise all the Daleks in this asylum, rescue Oswin from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Amy and Rory's marriage."

The strained couple shared a look, and Amy looked back at The Doctor. "Okay I'm counting three lost causes, anyone else?"

I sighed, then looked at the camera in determination. "Oswin, there's a Dalek ship in orbit, do you see it?"

"Yeah, got it on the sensors."

"The Daleks upstairs want us… okay mainly Doctor… to turn off the planet's force field so they can glass this whole place and us with it. I'm wondering how fast you can drop this shield." Looking over my shoulder at The Doctor, we both shared a grin. Although everyone else shared looks of mild horror.

Oswin was silent for a moment. "Pretty fast. But why would it?"

The Doctor spoke next. "Because this is a teleporter, am I right Oswin?" He pointed at the platform we set Amy down on, and my eyes sparkled with hope.

"Yeah. Internal use only."

The Doctor snapped with both his hands, and walked into the middle of the room. He pulled out his screwdriver and knelt down, blinking it into the exposed wires. "I can boost the power! Once the force field is down, then we can use this to beam us right off this planet."

"But the Daleks will open fire as soon as that thing is off", Gladius stuttered, fear obvious in his tone.

"We'll have to be quick, yes."

"But… I-" Rory stumbled over his words. "Yeah, we need to be quick-"

"But where do we beam to?" Amy finished.

"The only place within range", she looked over me, Rory and Amy. "The Dalek ship."

"Nice", Majima said. "Gives me a reason to smash some tin cans."

"We are so dead…" Jenny sighed, facepalming.

"Oh so this is the kind of escape plan where you survive four seconds longer", Rory said.

"What's wrong with four seconds?" The Doctor smirked. "You can do loads in four seconds. Oswin!" He stood up and walked back over to the camera. "How fast can you drop the force field?"

"I can do it from here", she said. "Soon as you come and get me."

We all fell silent and looked at the camera. "No… just drop the force field and come to us."

"There's enough power in that teleport for one go, why would you wait for me?"

The Doctor looked at the camera carefully. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No idea. Never met you." I heard the clicking of a keyboard. "Sending you a map so you can come get me."

The Doctor slipped to the side, but all of this was clearly making Rory worry. "This place is crawling with Daleks."

"Yeah. Kinda why I'm anxious to leave. Come up and see me sometime."

"Something about this seems wrong…" Jenny hissed as she slided up next to me and Amy.

Majima and Rory went up to The Doctor as he looked at the map Oswin sent. I watched for a moment, then looked back up at Jenny and Amy. "This whole thing doesn't line up. The Doc was right to point out the eggs." I whispered so only they could hear. "If she's been here a year, how does she keep getting new eggs and milk for her soufflés?"

"Plus there was the whole… 'Harvey' thing…" Amy mumbled.

After a moment, Who came up and put some sort of controller into Rory's hands, all of us standing on the teleporter.

"Okay", he began quietly, "as soon as the force field is down the Daleks will attack. If it gets too explody-wody in here, you go without me, okay?"

"And leave you to die?" Rory asked in confused horror.

"Oh don't worry about me. You're the ones getting beamed up to a Dalek ship to get exterminated."

Me and my friends pursed our lips, sharing glances. "How comforting…" Gladius grumbled."

"Fair point", Rory added. "Love this plan!" He looked over at Mrs.Pond. "Uh, what about Amy?"

The Doctor went under the teleporter to plug in some cables. "Keep her remembering, keep her focused." He looked at me. "Same to you four. That'll hold back the conversion."

"What do I do?" Amy asked, clutching her head.

The Doctor shot up. "You have what she said." Pond looked at him. "They're subtracting love. Don't let them." We watched as Who ran off down the hallway that presumably led to Oswin, which only made the awkward tension between Amy and Rory all the more thicker.

After a suffocating few minutes of silence, with Rory pacing, Amy sitting on the platform and the rest of us awkwardly to the side, Rory finally spoke up.

"Okay, look at me." Amy slowly turned her head so she was looking at her… partner. "I'm going to be logical. Cold and logical, okay? For both of our sakes. For both of us…" He held up his wrist band. "I'm going to take this off my wrist and put it on yours."

"Why, then I'll just start converting you", Amy guarded her wrist. "How's that sound better?"

"Yeah, but it'll buy us time because it'll take longer with me."

Amy just looked up at him. "Sorry, what?"

"It subtracts love, that's what she said?"

"What's that got to do with it? What does that even mean?"

"It's just arithmetic." Rory sounded pained, and it broke my heart. Majima mumbled something and walked off, Jenny following after him. "It'll take longer with me because- We both know. We both always known-" He stopped, then knelt down to at eye level with her. "Amy, basic fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you love me, which today is good news because it might just save both of our lives."

Amy's eyes started to tear up, and I decided they needed to be alone, so I joined Jenny and Majima, Gladius close behind.

Jenny looked at me sadly, and wrapped me in a one armed hug. "I'll say this… nothing like this would ever happen in Tremorton."

"Or Kamurocho…" Majima whispered. "This is…" He sighed. "What a load of shit. Trapped in a metal grave with a bunch of killer robots, and we've got Jack and Jill dealing with their problems." He sighed. "This is why I fucking hate love. Makes you weak." He smirked. "But I won't deny it's nice." He hissed in pain when Jenny jabbed him with her elbow.

I just remained silent, pursing my lips. That was, until the sounds of explosions hit my ears. Instantly, the four of us ran into the teleporter room…

And froze at the sight of Amy and Rory locking lips.

"Now?!" Gladius groaned out in shock. Majima just laughed and joined them on the platform, holding me close as the whole asylum shook. Jenny and Gladius joined us, and soon too did The Doctor. Rory and Amy were oblivious to all that was around them, much to our frustration.

"Oh for god sake!" Who took the controller from Rory's grasp and pressed the button. I blinked, and we were back on the TARDIS.

"What the…" Ralph said as he looked over all of us. The Doctor was ginning, Amy and Rory were still kissing, Majima was face first on the floor, Jenny had somehow collided with Izzy and Steve, and I was on the wrecker's shoulder.

Gladius, hovering next to my side, shook his jewel.

Then immediately fainted.

"Uhhhhh…" Vanellope started as she gave the Ponds a disgusted look. "What did you all get up to?"

I watched as Who flipped a switch, and we were off. So I just faced the racer with a cheeky grin. "We'll tell you guys after we drop off the couple."

That just made the others who were left behind in confusion, and me and The Doctor shared a grin. I jumped off Ralph's shoulder, heading off to bed for some much needed rest.

What a day…

~X~X~X~

I watched in utter confusion as The Doctor led what looked to be an Egyptian queen aboard the TARDIS. Which was a sentiment shared with most of the others, if their wide eyes and open mouths were anything to go by.

Except Zomboss, who looked both in awe and absolutely insulted. "Ah, I see. I'm not good enough for you, so you went ahead and replaced me with… with… HER!!!" The zombie pointing an accusatory finger at the queen at the end of his outburst.

Nothing but dead silence. I swear there were crickets.

Zomboss' over exaggerated grimace fell, and he gave us all a wide-eyed, embarrassed look. He dashed downstairs, leaving us all in silent bewilderment.

"Yeah, that happened", I said with a shrug. I turned my attention to the new face. "Hello! My name is Caleb. We're all…" I gestured out to the others, and they all waved. "Friends of The Doctor. And you are…"

"Queen Nefertiti", the woman said in a regal tone. Gladius stuttered like a madman before bowing. I simply rolled my eyes and smacked him, sending him spinning.

Nefertiti eyed the spinning sword for a moment in confusion, then looked at The Doctor. "I didn't know you had so many… companions with you at the moment."

He waved her off. "They're just her for a bit. Getting some much needed rest, relaxing their sore bones, the works."

I smiled and nodded. "We're travellers too! We've been all over, and… uhhhh Star what are you doing?" My train of thought was violently derailed when I saw Star trying to make a house of cards… on Steve's head. Barranco and Dave were both watching her in anticipation.

"Hm?" She looked over, looked at the card house, then back to me. "Oh! Just passing the time!"

"Riiiiight…" I droned out. I shook my head and looked back to Nefertiti. "My friends are all a bit silly, but considering you want to tag along with The Doctor, seems you like the silly."

I smirked as Who visibly deflated, then shot me a light glare. "I'm not silly. I'm… eccentric."

"That's another word for silly!" I heard Ralph call out. I snorted as Who walked away grumbling, heading back to the main console, Nefertiti following after him after bidding me a polite farewell. After that, I headed off elsewhere into the TARDIS, finding Merida chilling quietly in the library, with Izzy surprisingly calm. Manolo and Maria were a distance away, reading their own books.

I sat down next to Merida, and she smiled at me. "What brings you here, Caleb?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted some peace, that's all. And you guys looked so calm here, I couldn't help it."

Izzy nodded from her seat. "It's honestly… nice, to unwind. Guess I don't always need to be pinging off the walls."

"How's things going outside?" Manolo asked as he and Maria joined us.

"The usual with us", I admitted with a shrug. "Doc picked up an Egyptian queen for some reason. Why, I can't say."

Maria rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

"We only knew him for, I don't know, two days?" Merida spat in a joking tone.

I smirked as Maria sputtered. Manolo quietly chuckled as a quiet convo broke out between the five of us. But at some point, I had lost steam and just decided to listen. This was nice. This is what I missed so much in my life.

I closed my eyes and sighed contently, subconsciously pulling out my head phones and putting on some music. I left the library with a rhythmic swing to my motions as Sticks & Stones by Jonsi played. I was so entrapped in my song that I wasn't able to stop myself when I bumped into someone.

That someone being Rory.

I snapped out of my trance, turning my music off as I looked at him and Amy. Both of them looked upset and surprised, and it didn't help that there was an older man standing on a ladder holding a light bulb between them.

I blinked back and forth at both of them, trying to understand what was happening. But before I can ask about anything, The Doctor starts rambling.

"Hello, you weren't busy, were you? Well, even if you were it wouldn't as interesting as this!" He kicked a panel under the console and it opened to reveal a bunch of flashlights. "Probably is, but I didn't want you to miss it. Now, just a quick hop!" He flicked some levers and the TARDIS was off once again. After another shake, I knew we landed. "Everybody grab a torch."

The Doctor headed towards the front door, with Nefertiti and some other new guy quickly doing as they were told and following. I shared a look with Amy, shrugged at her, and followed after Who. I left the TARDIS ahead of the newbies, and walked up to The Doctor as he studied a spider web with a big spider on it.

I shuddered, Gladius immediately coming to my side.

"Spiders", Who mumbled. "You don't normally get spiders in space."

The door of the TARDIS closed after Amy, Rory and the older man stepped out.

"What the-" The man said in shock.

The Doctor noticed him, and scowled. "Don't move!" He walked around the web, his flashlight beaming at the man. "Do you really think I'm that stupid I wouldn't notice? How did you get on board, eh? Transmit? Who sent you?"

"Doctor…" Rory said, clearing his throat. "That's my dad."

I grimaced, then winced. "This'll be fun…" I mumbled to Gladius. He nodded as Who looked at his friend.

"Well frontally that's outrageous."

"What?" Rory's eyes widened.

"You think you can just bring your dad along without asking? I'm not a taxi service, you know!"

"You materialised around us!"

"Oh, well that's fine then." And thus, an angry Doctor was silenced and replaced with a happy Doctor. "My mistake. Hello Brian, how are you, nice to meet you!" Rory's dad, Brian, simply went along with everything and cheerily shook The Doctor's hand. "Welcome. Welcome. This is the gang, I've got a gang. Yes. Come on then everyone!" I followed the time traveller swiftly, the rest of our 'gang' close behind (sans Rory and Brian), my own flashlight beaming bright as it guided me through the darkness.

"So, uhhhhh…" I said quietly to Who. "You picked up Nefertiti and…", I gazed over my shoulder at the other new man, "Him… so you could have a gang?"

"Yeah, never really had a gang before, it's exciting stuff!" He looked like a kid in a candy store.

Gladius snorted. "I'm sure the others would love to hear that."

"Oh shush, you lot are the exception", he said at the sword. "You all needed a break, so you got one. Plus, it's nice to know the TARDIS is being watched."

I nodded, and finally noticed a somewhat peeved Amy walking up to us. "Alright, where are we, what was that noise and hello, ten months?"

"Orbiting Earth", Who started, "well, I say orbiting. More like pre-crashing on a spaceship." My eyes widened at that. "Don't know. And, hello Pond." The two adults shared a quick hug. "Ten months." They broke off the hug, and she hugged me happily next, making me smile. "Time flies. Never really understood that phrase." He turned around and named the two new additions. "This is Nefy, this is Radell. They're with me."

"With you? Wha- They're with you? D- are they the new us? Is that why we haven't seen you?"

"No, they're just people, they're not Ponds. Just thought we might need a gang, never really had a gang before, it's new."

She gave him a dubious look, then faced me and Gladius. "What about you two?"

I shrugged. "I'm as lost as you are, Amy. Doc brings Nefy with him a few minutes ago, and everyone is confused."

"No one is being replaced, though", Gladius reassured. He paused. "I hope…"

All of us fell silent when the sound of a large metal door opening hit our ears, and we all looked over to see as a large pair of steel double doors clunk and shift. Lights on either side began to light up one by one, almost like a countdown. It was then I realised it was an elevator, and something was coming down. Rory and Brian joined us, and we all waited on baited breath.

The ground shook and an alarm blared as the elevator reached our floor, the doors opened, and inside bathed in a bright light…

We're two clearly agitated Ankylosaurus'.

"Not possible", Radell said in disbelief.

The Doctor waved his hands around awkwardly. "Run."

The two Dino's roared, and all of us made a break for it. Although me, Amy and Gladius stopped when we saw Who hadn't moved to follow us.

"Doctor!" Amy cried.

"I know! Dinosaurs… on a spaceship!"

"Oh for Pete's sake!" I groaned, running up and grabbing his hand. I pulled him along as we ran, dipping around a corner and joining back with the others. The powerful stomps of the dinos gaining on us.

"In here!" Nefertiti said, pointing into a little alcove. We all followed after her, although I tripped a bit when The Doctor slided in my way thanks to lack of traction. Gladius helped us both recover, and we ducked in with the others.

The Doctor shushed us, and we listened as the two Ankylosaurus' clearly rammed into each other and the walls. Each time they did, the ground shook, and one nasty shake made me instinctually hug Amy's arm yet again.

That was becoming a pattern, huh?

We fell into dead silence as the two dinosaurs stopped right next to us and started butting heads.

Radell, the first thing of note he did since I met him, was pull out a large knife.

"I can take one of them", he whispered, looking at all of us briefly. "Short blow, up in the throat."

"We see living dinosaurs and the first thing you want to do is kill one of them?!" I hissed in disbelief and horror. Looking him over, it was clear he was a hunter, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

"Don't forget about the in space part", The Doctor added. "We need to preserve them."

"Who's gonna preserve us?!" Randell hissed back.

"Shhhh!!!" Amy shushed. She tightened the grip on my hand as she shot both men a scowl. She looked like she was going to say something else, but one of the dinosaurs suddenly groaned and charged forward, whacking the other with its tail.

The second Ankylosaurus cried out and chased after the other, slamming its tail into the wall right by us. We ducked as some stray rubble flew at us, and then watched as both dinosaurs disappeared down the hallway.

Once they were far enough away, Rory finally spoke up. "Okay, so… How? And, who's ship?"

"Well there's so much to discover", The Doctor said back, "Think about how much wiser we'll be by the end of all this."

Brian decided to butt in just then, addressing Who. "Sorry, sorry. Are you saying… dinosaurs are flying a spaceship?"

"Brian, please. That would be ridiculous. They're probably just passengers. Did I mention missiles?"

I did a double take. "Huh?!"

The Doctor shushed me before a panic could start, although Amy did look over with wide eyes. "I didn't want to worry you. Anyway, six hours is a lifetime. Not really a trilium lifetime, that's what we're trying to avoid." Rory shook his head, his father's worried eyes growing larger. "And we're all really clever." He aimed his flashlight into our hiding spot. "Let's see what we can find out."

We all followed him as he walked up to a screen that was blocked by cobwebs. He brushed them aside with ease, only to use the nearest shoulder as a towel. Sadly, that happened to be Brian.

I was observing some ominous claw marks with Amy. "How many dinosaurs do you think are here, Doctor?" I asked, trying to bury my worry.

Who didn't answer, but he did get the screen working with his screwdriver. "Oh well done, whoever you are. Looking for engines, thank you computer." Me and Gladius walked up and joined the three men, peeking over their shoulders at the schematics of the ship. "Look at that… different sections have different engines, but these look like the primary clusters. Where are we now, computer? We need to get down to these engines-"

The Doctor tapped the screen at our desired location, and before I could even blink we were teleported away. In a split second, all five of us were on a cloudy beach.

"Oh are you kidding me?" I whined. "More teleporting? Aaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhh…" I sank to my knees and face planted in the sand in misery. "I hate future technology." My voice was muffled by the sand.

"We're outside, we're on a beach", Brian said. I forced myself back up, watching as Who walked a bit ahead and threw his hands around in anger.

"Teleport!" The Doctor snarled through grit teeth. "Oh I hate teleports! Must've made it active with my voice."

"Ah, yes, thank you Arthur C. Clark", Brian spat sarcastically. "Teleport, obviously. We're on a spaceship with dinosaurs, why wouldn't there be a teleport? In fact, why don't we just teleport now?!"

He walked off to the side, and I stood up and crossed my arms. "He's right. Can't we just… go back?" I gave Brian a brief look. "Although… he seems more flustered about this than I thought."

"Nah, he hates travelling", Rory said over the sea breeze, "Makes him really anxious. He only goes to the paper shop and golf."

Gladius snorted. "We must be on his hit list then", it was a weak joke, but it did alleviate some of the tension in the air.

"What did you bring him for?" Who asked.

Rory gave him deadpanned look. "I didn't! Why can't you just phone ahead like any normal person?"

"You're asking him to be normal?" I said with a raised eyebrow, jabbing a thumb at the bow tie loving man. "Doc's anything but normal."

"I don't know whether to be offended or flattered", The Doctor said as gave me a look, pursing his lips.

Brian walked back up to us. "Somebody tell me where we are, now!"

The Doctor stuck his tongue out, then pulled it back in as if tasting the air. "Well it's not Earth. Doesn't taste right, too metallic." He took a deep breath.

Brian pointed in the direction where a bunch of loud squawking was coming from. "Is that a kestrel?"

I tilted my head as Rory knelt down. "Maybe it is. Would be nice."

"The beach is humming", Rory said as he stood back up.

"It's what?" "Is it?" Gladius and The Doctor said simultaneously. I watched as they both felt the sand beneath us.

"Oh yes…" The Doctor hummed. "Right well don't just stand there, you four. Dig!" I gave Who a raised brow as he dusted his hands and walked towards some nearby rocks. "I'm going to look at rocks."

"Dig with what?!" Rory shouted at the leaving man.

"Ah! Well." Brian held up a garden trowel he had his person.

Me and Rory shared a bewildered glance, then looked down at the now digging man. "Brian, did you just have that on you?" I asked.

"Course! What sort of man doesn't carry a trowel?" He looked up at me. "Put it on your Christmas list!"

"Dad, I'm 31", Rory said as he knelt down, "I don't have a Christmas list anymore."

"I do!" The Doctor shouted.

Rory shot him a thumbs up, and I rolled my eyes with a smirk. Gladius looked into the hole, then flew over to join Who. But he froze when Brian, not even a minute after digging, hit something metal.

Brian shared a look with me and Rory. "There's a floor. Under this beach." The three of us all called out to the time traveller, Gladius close behind as we moved to the rocks.

When we finally explained to him what we found, he slid a part of a rock to reveal another screen.

"See! Metal floors, screens in rocks. It was just a short range teleport, we're still on the ship." He explained. I was mixed between relief and frustration.

"No, we're outside on a beach", Brian said in denial.

My eyes widened. "Oh! This ship must be full of these!" At Rory and especially Brian's confused looks, I continued. "Terrariums! Artificial environments for nature to flourish! Must be how the dinosaurs lived…"

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Spot on, Caleb! But this place also serves a double purpose." He spun around with his arms stretched out. "This is the engine room! Hydro generators!"

"Just like at home…" I said wistfully. The Doctor gave me a look. "Hydro power. All electricity is thanks to BC's many dams."

"Ah, never met a proper Canadian before", he said happily before spinning around back to the screen. I shot him a look and was about to join him only for Gladius to stop me.

"Yeah?" I asked him.

"I don't think those are kestrels…" The sword said fearfully, pointing to the artificial sky. I looked up, and froze.

"Uhhhhh… guys?" I squeaked out in fear. The three men spun around, and similarly locked up at the sight before them.

A pack of hungry looking Pterodactyls, gradually making their way towards us.

"Oh my god…" Brian said in horror. "Are those Pterodactyls?"

"Yes", The Doctor said. "On any other occasion I'd be thrilled. Exposed on a beach, less than thrilled. We should be going!" He grabbed my hand, and the five of us made a break for it.

"But where?!" I cried out.

"Definitely away from them! Try to make sure they don't notice you, that's the plan!"

"That's the plan?!" Rory yelled. "I think they might be noticing!"

"Okay, amendment plan in action: RUN!" I cried in terror, running after the already running Brian.

"Doctor, can't we just teleport again?!" Gladius called out.

"No! Local teleport burnt out on arrival!"

"Oh wonderful!" I screamed, legs burning as I ran across the uneven landscape. I opened my eyes, and gasped. "Guys! There's an opening we can use! C'mon!" I sped up, sweat beating down my face as the flying terrors came closer and closer. I dove into the cave, gesturing to the others to follow quickly. Gladius was swatting away and Pterodactyls that got too close, and once we were all inside, we stopped to catch our breaths.

"What do we do now, there's no way back out there", Rory said between laboured breaths. I was next to Brian, leaning on Gladius for support.

The Doctor looked into the darkness ahead of us as the screech from outside became more desperate. "Through the cave, c'mon." We all made a move to follow him, only to freeze when a loud stomp came from deeper in the cave. "That suggestion was a work in progress."

Brian looked back at the cave opening, then into the darkness. "We're trapped."

"Yes, thank you for spelling it out."

"It's getting closer…" I whispered fearfully, hiding behind Mr.Pond. He put an arm around me defensively, as Gladius moved to the front of the group to block whatever was approaching us.

The Doctor looked over at me in worry for just a moment, then looked ahead with a steely gaze, as if that was going to scare away whatever was approaching.

I gulped fearfully as the stomping reached its peak, and from around the corner stepped out… two identical old looking robots, sparking as certain parts moved. When they stood side by side, I relaxed significantly.

"We're very cross with you", one of the robots said in a British accent.

I bit my lip to keep myself from snorting in laughter, as the men and sword all shared unsure, confused glances.

~X~

"You're going straight on the naughty step!" Robot 1 scolded us. I frowned, barely glancing over my shoulder at the two metal men. They were escorting us through the ship, Brian sandwiched between me and The Doctor and Rory at the other end. Gladius was flying above us, occasionally looking down at the robots.

"What's the escape plan?" Brian mumbled to Who.

"Why do we want to escape?" The Doctor asked back in childish glee.

"They have us hostage."

"They're taking us somewhere", Rory added, "We might learn from it."

The Doctor looked at Mr.Pond with admiration and pride. "See, so clever! I missed you Rory." He pinched the man's cheek.

"Don't do that." Rory brushed his hand on his cheek when it stopped.

"What if they kill us?" Brian asked.

"If they were going to", I whispered, "They'd done it by now. Hey!" I spun around and faced the robots, making the whole party stop. "You aren't going to kill us, right you old bucket of bolts." I smacked Robot 1 on the chest hard.

"Who are you calling a bucket of bolts?" Robot 2 said in an accusatory tone.

"Who else but you two?" I spat back confidently.

"You try being on this ship for two millennia. See how your joints do!"

"Don't listen to him", Robot 1 said calmly. "He's just being mean 'cause we captured him." I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to kick Robot 2 in his metallic shin. But the sound of a dino approaching caught my attention.

"Oh my goodness…" Brian said in shock. I spun around, and beamed when I saw an adorable Triceratops waddle up to us.

"Awwwww", Gladius cooed. "It's adorable!" He hovered lower to get a better look. "So beautiful…"

The Doctor shared the same sort of joy. "Herbivore, great, don't panic. Triceratops!" He knelt down. "Beautiful!"

"Uhhhhh, should I shoot it?" Robot 1 asked his companion.

"We're not supposed to shoot the creatures, stupid!" Robot 2 snapped back.

"Don't call me stupid", Robot 1 shot back. I finally gave in and backward kicked his metal shin, silencing both robots abruptly.

I shot a very dark glare at the two of them, then turned my attention back to the Triceratops. Carefully, I walked forward and gently petted the side of its head. The skin was cool to the touch, but also warm.

"Hello, cutie-pie!" The Doctor cooed, kneeling down fully so he could pet the dino on its snout. "Who's a lovely Tricey then, eh? Yes you are."

The Triceratops was eating up the affection, but also seemed set on something in Brian's trousers, considering all the sniffing.

Brian looked terrified. "What do I do, what do I do?!"

The Doctor looked at him, and stood up to give him a flat look. "You don't have any vegetable matter in your trousers, do you Brian?"

"Only my balls."

Rory facepalmed, my jaw dropped and eyes bugged out, and Gladius sputtered.

"I'm sorry?" Who said in utter confusion.

Brian pulled out a pair of golf balls from a pocket. "Golf balls. Grassy residue."

"What are you carrying those around for?" Rory asked, the puzzled look on his face priceless.

His father didn't get to answer, as the Triceratops decided to lean up and give Brian a big ol' lick over his whole face, much to his disgust and discomfort.

"Oh, bless", The Doctor said sweetly.

"Get it away from me!" Brian cried out.

"Throw one", The Doctor said, looking at the golf balls.

"Really?" Brian waved the balls around a bit. "Is this what you want, is it?" Rory's dad chucked one of the balls away, and with a cheerful roar the Triceratops gave chase.

With all of that behind us, Who pat Brian on the back and turn to address the robots. "Take us to your leader." That got a snort out of me, and a quiet laugh from Gladius. Rory pursed his lips and rolled his eyes, while Brian pulled out a handkerchief and wiped off his face.

And with that, we were off once again, and luckily it was a pleasantly quiet walk. Only the sounds of distant roars, settling metal and the twin robot footsteps to fill the voice. Soon enough, though, we reached some sort of odd door. A faint piano tune could be heard on the other side.

"Love what you've done with the place down here", The Doctor said with a silly grin.

"Let him in", a scratchy and unwell voice said from the other side. "Open the gate." The gate promptly opened, but as soon as Who walked in, it closed again.

He looked back at us reassuringly. "It's fine. It's fine."

"He's not interested in you", Robot 2 spat. I growled, as it was clear they were referring to their boss.

"Look", Rory said, walking up to them defiantly. "You need to learn some manners."

"No, you need to learn some manners", Robot 2 shot back.

"No… You do." Rory pointed a fierce finger at Robot 2.

"No, you do, Mr.Manners", Robot 1 added with his own point.

My face twisted into a glare, and in the blink of an eye I had grabbed Gladius' handle. I pointed the tip of the sword at both robots threateningly. "No. You do." My tone was cold, leaving no more room to argue.

But then, the mood shifted drastically. "Injure the older one", the voice from the other side ordered.

My eyes bugged out as Robot 1 shot Brian with no hesitation, setting me off. I growled like a rabid animal standing between Rory and his injured dad and the two robots.

"Oh, you two are so goddamn close to becoming scrap metal for my buddy Zomboss", I glared at the two robots, but they didn't respond.

"Save some of that for me, Caleb", Rory snarled. He was glaring just as fiercely at the robots, the fire in his eyes glowing brighter anytime his dad shifted.

"Oh I'm so scared", Robot 1 said sarcastically. He then turned to his twin. "Actually I might be. Little bit of oil just came out."

My eye twitched, and I clenched my teeth tightly together. Luckily, Gladius soothingly brushed one of his wings over my wrist, helping me calm down. But I was still on the defensive. As the father and son shared a bit of bonding in a dire situation, I kept my gaze glued on our assailants.

Suddenly, a phone started to ring. Rory stood up as both robots jumped.

"What's that?" Robot 1 asked.

"Your phone's ringing?" Brian said in confusion. "In space?"

"You get bars up here?" I said, looking back at Rory in utter befuddlement.

"You get used to it", Mr.Pond said. He looked at the robots. "I have to take this. The wife." He pressed the answer button and pulled. "Hello Mrs."

A faintly heard Amy on the other side, but couldn't make out what she said.

"Uh, still on board", he quietly responded. "Less some Pterodactyls and some rusty robots that I'm going to melt down." She snarled that last bit, shooting another glare at said robots. I smirked as they flinched.

Amy said something back, and from how Rory glare melted away and shifted to an uncomfortable look, I knew immediately it wasn't good. I glanced at the robots, and I suddenly felt really uncomfortable. But it wasn't enough to break my defensive stance. Behind me, I could hear The Doctor and this mysterious man talking, but over the tools and other equipment, much like Amy, I couldn't hear either of them.

Rory walked past me and reached his hand through the gate. "Doctor, it's Amy."

Luckily, The Doctor heard and made his way over, taking the phone and speaking into it. After a bit of hushed talking (I could only make out a "See you soon"), he gave Rory back his phone. Looking at both of us, he whispered. "Be ready."

We nodded, and I moved to be more in front of Brian. After some more talking I couldn't completely make out, aside from the fact this mysterious man used his robots to genocide the crew who originally owned the ship, The Doctor stepped out back in front of the robots.

"Well don't just stand there, you two", he started. He looked at the robots and pointed at them. "Hey, he wants to see you." He dashed off, and I was quick to help Brian up to his feet. We followed after The Doctor, only to stop when we saw the Triceratops from before down the hall after turning a corner.

"What are we doing?!" Brian shouted.

"Just do exactly as I do!" The Doctor dashed ahead, screaming a joyful "Geronimo!!!" as he hopped onto some boxes and onto the back of the Triceratops.

While Rory and Brian hesitated, I beamed and dashed ahead to join him. With the skill of a pro, I mounted the Triceratops like it was nothing, then gestured for the two other men to follow. They shared a glance, and ran up.

"Go Tricey!" The Doctor said cheerfully, pointing ahead. "Run like the wind!"

All we got in response was a growl, the dinosaur unresponsive.

And thus made us sitting ducks for the now approaching robots, who were firing lasers at us with lethal intent.

Suddenly, I thought of something, and looked back at Brian. He nodded, getting the full idea instantly. Fishing into his pocket, he pulled out the second golf ball and tossed it to Gladius.

The sword used his telekinesis to hover the ball in front of Tricey. "C'mon, Tricey. You want the golf ball? Then follow me!" The sword flew ahead, and with a joyful roar the dinosaur ran after him. I yelped in shock at how sudden it was, and instantly hugged The Doctor for support.

It definitely didn't help that there was a barrage of lasers whizzing past us, leaving burn marks on the walls. Gladius, still leading Tricey with the enticing treat, turned a corner sharply. The dino did the same, and with us out of the crosshairs of the robots, I let out a breath of relief.

"I'm riding a dinosaur, on a spaceship!" Brian shouted in joy.

"I know!" Rory shouted back in exacerbation.

"I'd love to see what that picture would turn out like!"

I laughed at Brian, before letting out an uproarious cheer that was still somewhat drowned out by the stomps of the Triceratops.

"C'mon Tricey!" The Doctor cheered, gripping the fan of the dino's head like a handle.

I was beaming like a madman, only for my eyes to bug out at the sight in front of me. "Gladius!"

"Huh?" He spun around, and slammed right into a wall. He clattered onto the ground, and the four of us went into a panic.

"Where are the brakes?!" The Doctor asked fruitlessly. I yelped and shielded my face with my arms, only to fall off the dinosaur when it came to a screeching halt.

I groaned from my spot on the ground as Tricey waltz back over and did little movements that more fit a horse than a Triceratops. It dropped the golf ball by Rory's head, then walked off to the side a bit to sit down like a dog.

We all sat up just then, The Doctor in an instant, Gladius helping me up right after, and then finally Rory and Brian together.

"Good, that worked", Who began, "Okay… uh, where are we now?" He paced in a circle for a bit before running up to another map screen. We were apparently getting a message from Earth. "Incoming message from Earth! Hello Earth, how're things?"

The screen flashed a company logo for a second, the Indian Space Agency, and a woman in a military uniform blinked on right after.

"Doctor, the ship's coming through the atmosphere", the woman said, "I have to start the missile program."

"What?!" Gladius roared.

"No, no no no", the Doctor said, his joy immediately melting away into worry. "Don't do that, everything's completely under control here. Turning around at any moment, need a bit of wrigger room on the timings-"

"I can't do that."

"You can, of course you can. Tiny bit more time. Andrea please, this ship contains the most precious cargo."

"My only responsibility is the Earth's safety. I'm launching the missiles. Goodbye Doctor." Andrea tapped her side's screen and closed the call, which met it was freak-out time.

"Crap", I said, burying my hands in my hair. "This isn't good! But- what… How can she be so set on this?! We just need a bit more time!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Rory asked as the Doctor began to pace around the room. He walked up to the screen. "Doesn't this ship have any defence systems installed?"

My eyes brightened with hope, and The Doctor instantly perked up. "Good thinking Rory!" The Doctor gave the man a big kiss on the lips, and my eyes bugged out at the sight before I started laughing.

Rory cringed for a bit before looking over and glaring at me. "Not a word about this to Amy."

I smiled innocently. "Wouldn't dream of it." Gladius quietly chuckled next to me.

"Computer, show us weapons and defence systems", The Doctor asked into the screen.

The text NO SYSTEMS AVAILABLE flashed on screen.

"That was a waste of time, getting my hopes up like that." The Doctor weakly smacked both sides of Rory's face.

"What ship doesn't have weapons?" Rory said, shaking his head.

Who sighed. "The ancient species were always still full of hope."

"What about the control deck?" Brian askedi. We all looked at him, and the Doctor dejectedly walked past him. "You said we should go to the control deck next."

"It's too late, it won't even make a difference", The Doctor spat.

"We should at least try, Doc!" I pleaded.

"It won't work, Caleb", he shouted at me angrily. "The missiles are locked on!"

"So what", Rory said. "We're just giving up?"

"I don't know", Who admitted. He gave all of us a scrutinising look. "I don't know."

There was a bright flash, and the man from before and his two robots had appeared right next to us.

"You were telling the truth Doctor", the man began, "Earth has launched missiles. This vessel is too clumsy to out run them, but I have my own ship."

"You won't get your precious cargo on board though", The Doctor said, pointing at the man. "It'd just be you… you and your and your metal tantrum machines."

"We do not have tantrums!" Robot 1 spat in indignant rage.

"Shut up", the man ordered. We walked up, using his cane to give him support. "You're right, Doctor. I can't keep the dinosaurs and live myself. But I had the IV system scan the entire ship, and it found something even more valuable. Utterly unique. " His voice became more hushed. "I don't know where you found it, or how you got it here, but I want it."

"I don't know what you're talking about", Who said while glaring.

"Earth queen Nefertiti of Egypt." My eyes widened, and felt a raging fire start to spark within me. "Her face, stamped across history. Give it to me, and I'll let the rest of you live."

There was a painfully long pause as The Doctor leaned in close. "NO."

"You think I won't punish those… who get in my way? Whatever they're worth…" He nodded his head ever so slightly, and much to my horror, the two robots moved up and shot Tricey dead right before our eyes.

"Oh my god…" Galdius whispered out in horror. My eyes started to tear up.

Silently, The Doctor walked up and stroked Tricey as its eyes closed, before walking back over and clapping sarcastically, glaring the man down. 'You must be very proud."

"Bring her to me or the robots will make their way through your corpses." As if to emphasise the point, both robots stood more at attention. But Who just glared, taking the empty threat head on. "Bring her, now!"

"No."

I jumped when there was the sound of electricity behind us, and spinning around I saw Nefy, Amy and Radell all standing, hollow looks in their eyes. Amy and Radell were holding rifles, but at the sight of Nefertiti my eye twitched.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor whispered.

"I demanded to be brought here", the queen growled, walking up to the monstrous man.

Who blocked her path just a bit. "No no no, no way."

"It isn't your choice, Doctor, it's mine."

"Listen to me, if you go with him I can't guarantee your safety."

"You saved my people, I am in your debt."

"Nefy, are you crazy?" I hissed, dashing over to her other side. "This isn't how you do this. Giving yourself up to a madman isn't how you repay any debt."

"You don't even owe me anything", The Doctor added.

"Then I do it of my own volition." She pushed past us and walked up to the man.

"No!" Radell shouted. He cocked the rifle and aimed. "Take her, I shoot you."

"Put your weapon down!" Nefertiti ordered, raising her hand. "Let me make my choice."

"Do it boy", the man warned. One of the robots marched forward and aimed at Radell.

There was a painful moment of silence, but eventually, and I could tell rather reluctantly, Radell lowered his rifle. My rage boiled as I saw the man flash a twisted, gloating smirk, and gaze over at the queen.

"My bounty increases", he said, "And what an extraordinary bounty you are." He raised his hand, only for Nefy to swat it away.

"Never touch me."

In retaliation, the man raised his cane and held the bladed end to her throat. "I like my possessions to have spirit." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gladius shaking with rage. "Means I get to have fun breaking them." He removed his cane from Nefy's throat, and I somewhat relaxed. "And I will break you in with immense pleasure."

I clenched my teeth tightly together, breathing deeply through my nose. Amy walked over and put a hand on my shoulder, which did help ground me. But god, I wanted to kill this man so badly…

The man looked over at The Doctor. "Thank you, Doctor. Computer…" He gazed at Nefy again. "Take us back to my ship." The four teleported away, and it was just then the ship decided to let us know the missiles were locked on.

I shook, both in anger and sadness, but one simple line from Who changed everything.

"Bingo…"

"Doctor, what is it?" Rory asked.

In the blink of an eye, we were suddenly at the control deck, Who explaining how things were going to work. It was simple: Me, Amy and Radell would guard the control deck from any wayward dinosaurs, Rory and his dad would pilot the vessel away from Earth, and The Doctor would deal with the man who caused all of this.

Solomon. Just hearing his name made me angry.

I joined Radell outside the room, and good thing too, because that was when the Raptors decided to show up. When one appeared around the corner, the hunter cocked his rifle and aimed. The one Raptor called for several more, and I brandished Gladius like a gun.

"This is most humiliating", he groaned.

"Suck it up, Gladdy", I said, eyes darting over all the dinosaurs. "We got to do this. Remember, no killing."

"Right." His blade glowed with a faint pink light. "Dream mist, ready."

Radell gave me a smirk. "Gotta say, kid. For being a young bugger, you sure do know how to handle things."

"Fast learner", I smirked back. The two of us stood guard. As I remained firmly planted, Radell ran back in to hopefully get reinforcements. A few moments later, he came out with Amy.

"Nice of you to join us, Pond", I said with a grateful smile.

"Anything for my favourite kid", she said, smiling right back.

I blushed for a moment, only to go on the defensive fully when theRaptors attacked. I fired a pink laser at one of them, and they stumbled back. Amy and Radell joined in, firing the stun charges out, and soon the three of us were all working together to keep the Raptors at bay. We danced around each other in perfect sync, fighting back against the bipedal carnivores flawlessly. The ship shook at Brian and son aimed the ship away from Earth, and with everything coming together…

I cheered.

"Wooohooo!!!" I unloaded a barrage of dream mist into the Raptors, and after a minute more, they had all fallen asleep.

I shared a hi-five with Mrs.Pond, both our faces plastered with victorious smirks.

~X~

"All's well that end's well…" I groaned out, flopping onto a beanbag chair I had painstakingly moved into the main room of the TARDIS. Gladius was asleep in my arms, comfortably inside his scabbard.

"I just can't believe we were on a spaceship filled with dinosaurs…" Vanellope started in a low tone. "And didn't come back and get us!" She glared up at The Doctor, and he winced.

"I didn't think any of you would want to join!" He defended weakly. It was long after everything had wrapped up, with us leaving where Who had dropped the dinosaurs off.

Iris pouted. "But that sounded awesome!" She whined. "Like, how often are we going to be able to say 'Look, a T-Rex!'"

Ralph chuckled while Zomboss rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Iris. I'm sure we'll find some way to run into dinosaurs again."

"Come visit Zombopolis when all of this is over", the zombie scientist said, walking around the console while looking at the screens. "I've got a Time Machine."

Iris squealed in delight, running off to presumably tell Izzy. Zomboss sighed and looked at Ruby, who shrugged. "Iris can be a handful, but I still love her. Sometimes you need that bit of chaos."

"Wise words, Ruby", Barranco called out as he and Dave flopped onto the bean bag with me. "And that's coming from me."

"It is nice to get a different kind of chaos", Dave said with a nod. "Nice way to break up the norm."

I snorted as Galacta hovered just above the railing I was next to. "Doctor, do you have any idea where we are heading to next?"

Who just smirked. "No clue. I just go with my gut." He paused. "Although Amy and Rory did say they wanted to check out the Dead Of The Dead festival in Mexico…"

Maria laughed. "Even all the way here, Día De Los Muertos is still a part of our lives."

I smiled, leaning back as I let the casual chatter of my friends bring me to a peaceful sleep.

~X~X~X~

It was a bright new day, and I was chilling with The Doctor, Zomboss and Gladius as everyone else rested up some more. I sipped on a glass of fruit juice the sword made for me a few minutes before, watching as both scientists worked away at the main console.

"So, why do you always dance around the console, Doc?" I asked mid-sip.

The Doctor looked over at me, and shrugged. "I don;t know. Just to keep the joints loose, I guess. When you're over 1000 years old like me, you'd do anything to keep your body from turning to stone."

Zomboss sighed wistfully, leaning against the console as memories flashed in his eyes. "Ahhhhh… I should have done that more in my earlier years. Instead, I was using my teachers and classmates as stepping stones. Don't regret it for a moment, but it definitely didn't help these old bones in the long run." He smacked his spine lightly to punctuate the point.

The Doctor gave him a look. "What did you go to school for?"

"Thanatology", he stated bluntly. "In my world, zombies are just a common occurrence like humans. They've been attacking the town of Neighborville long before I rose to power."

"It just helped you had something other zombies lacked", Gladius stated. When Zomboss gave him a glance, Gladius tapped his handle in a thinking motion.

Zomboss snorted. "Yeah, that is true. But there were still plenty of other zombies that had human level intelligence." He smirked smugly. "No one can compete with Doctor Edgar George Zomboss!"

Doctor Who gave the zombie overlord a very unsure look. "I'm suddenly not all that comfortable with you being in, near or around the TARDIS."

"Thank him", Zomboss shot his thumb at me, and I waved. "He's warmed my cold heart, and considering who I'm travelling with, I'm not keen on stepping out of line."

"Good call", I called out.

"Well", The Doctor said with a shrug. "That's good enough for me. We just had help from a human turned Dalek, and I've seen… stranger than the textbook definition of a supervillain turning over a new leaf."

"Hey!" Zomboss pointed a dangerous finger at Who which none of us took seriously. "I'm still evil. I just don't have to keep that image up when I'm outside of my home world."

That made the Doctor pause, then look at me. "Would you be against me tagging along at all, Caleb?"

I paused my drinking. "Well, having two geniuses with us would be nice, the TARDIS would be way better than the tents, and…" I trailed off, then faced The Doctor with a bright smile. "Yeah, you can tag along! You could even bring Amy and Rory! Travelling with us means you can leave and come back before a second passes in your world. Or that's what Gladius says." I gave him a questioning look. "But… why?"

The Doctor let out a deep sigh, leaning against the console. His eyes looked clouded. "I just… I guess as much as I love what I do, the people I meet, the lives I save… Even I need a break. Just something more small scale, less planet level danger and more… town level." He gave me a slight frown. "I've seen so much, from the birth of the universe and its own end. I've had to say goodbye to so many people that mean so much to me… and I don't want that to happen again."

"You just need a change of pace", Zomboss said with a kind smile.

Who nodded, then looked at me with a smile. "So, if you're willing to put up with a madman and his box, I'd gladly tag along."

I beamed. "I'd love that, Doc."

He nodded with a smile, and for the next long while we returned to a comfortable silence, idle chit-chat starting as more of the gang woke up and got their days started. It was honestly pretty chill, which I greatly appreciated, especially considering the last few days of absolute chaos. My arm was still a bit sore from… whatever hit me, but after a few days of healing, it was well enough to take the bandages off.

I sniffed in boredom, watching my friends mingle happily between each other, and decided to head off elsewhere. My first stop was the kitchen, to drop off my finished glass, and then just explored around the TARDIS. I passed the bedrooms, library, indoor pool (yes, really), and other miscellaneous rooms of varying interest. Whistling as I walked through the endless hallways of the safest place in the universe, I eventually made a full circle and ended back up at the centre room.

I smiled and waved at Amy and Rory, both of them waving back as The Doctor kicked the TARDIS into gear, and we were off.

Maria and Manolo were talking to the Ponds about Día De Los Muertos, so I decided to join them.

"Hey guys", I greeted. I got greetings in return, and turned to Rory and Amy. "So, you two excited to see some sugar skulls?"

Amy nodded. "I've heard so much about the Day Of The Dead, and ever since I was a kid I wanted to just… be there."

"Amy convinced me to come", Rory said cheekily, earning a not-so-serious glare from his wife. "But hey, gets us out of the house, away from work, all of that."

Maria laughed quietly. "I will say this Día De Los Muertos won't compare to ours back at San Angel."

Amy scoffed. "Obviously. Who can say they teamed up with their dead relatives to fight a psycho bandit king."

My brows raised, and I faced the two wooden people. "Oh, you told them about Chakal and all that?"

Manolo nodded. "Kinda hard not to bring it up."

I shrugged. "Good point. Plus, it's really hard not to remember how ugly Chakal is. I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping him alive with just that alone."

Maria and Manolo both broke out into hysterical laughter, and while the Ponds snorted.

"That's a blunt way to put it", Amy said, holding back her upcoming laughter.

I just smiled happily.

Suddenly, the TARDIS shifted. "We're here!" The Doctor called. "Anyone who wants to tag along can, but I feel like it'd be nice to have someone stay here and keep things in check."

I shared a look with Gladius, and we both shared a nod.

~X~

We were most definitely not in Mexico. After a bit of a walk over some rolling hills of dried grass, we found ourselves standing in front of an old west town. Proudly called Mercy, the 80 residents count crossed out and the number 81 marked next to it.

Gladius was in his scabbard, and it was strapped to my back like always. Amy and Rory were eyeing the odd line of sticks and stones that bordered, while Zomboss was using his handheld device to try and find… something. Jenny was also with us, glaring at the very strange KEEP OUT sign that hung from one of the town sign posts.

"Mercy…" The Doctor stated. He was standing in the middle of the trail, giving the town a scrutinising look. "81 residents."

"Lookit' this", Amy said, hand gesturing to the piss poor border. "It's a load of stones and lumps of wood."

The Doctor looked over, then looked at Zomboss. "And?"

The zombie shrugged. "It is what it is. Nothing abnormal… at least that's obvious."

Who hummed and pulled out his screwdriver, running it along the border. After a moment, he nodded. Tucking his device away, he crossed the border and started walking into the town.

"Uh, the sign does say keep out", Rory pointed out.

"I see keep out signs as suggestions more than actual orders", The Doctor said, turning to face us. "Like dry-clean only." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation, and continued on his way.

Zomboss shrugged and followed after him. "Hey, I can't fault him. Something like this is very enticing."

Jenny sighed, and she shared a look with both Ponds. Amy nodded her head at our leaving friends, and we all eventually gave in. I snorted, stepping over the border and heading into the old west. I slided up to Zomboss, giving him a smirk.

"Being here must bring back memories, right Edgar?" I said, cheekiness flashing in my eyes.

He nodded wistfully while Who looked at us in interest. "Ah yes, the Old West. I still remember the War-Wagon, and my beloved ranch of bulls. Although those blasted chickens were far too annoying, even for most other zombies."

Who snorted. "Ah, well, it's nice we'll have an expert at all things rootin' and tootin'."

I cringed. "Never say that again."

"Okay", The Doctor frowned, though the glint in his eyes showed he massively regretted saying that.

It was a quiet walk through the town, and it became very apparent this place wasn't too friendly. From how the townspeople peeked around corners and from behind cover, giving us judging stares, it made me gulp fearfully. Gladius carefully put a reassuring wing on my shoulder, and it helped a bit of the tension. Amy seemingly shared the same sentiment, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure we weren't gonna be mugged.

I jumped a bit when a street lamp just ahead of us sparked.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at the lamp. "That's not right." He used his screwdriver on it, halting our march.

"But it's just a street lamp?" Jenny whispered in confusion. "Why is that such a big deal?"

"An electric street lamp about ten years too early…", Who mumbled. Jenny's eyebrows rose, and she gave the lamp a glance, as if she was expecting it to jump out at us.

"It's only a few years out", Rory mumbled.

"Says the man who left a phone charger in Henry 8th suite", Zomboss said vacantly, using his own device to check over the town's connected electric grid. "There's a power source somewhere, but it's too far out of town for me to tell what it is…"

The Doctor got a suspicious look in his eye, but then continued along. Amy was growing increasingly distressed, whipping her head around as more of the townspeople wandered out to stare at us.

"Doctor… um…" she began, looking around for the seventh time.

"Anachronistic electricity, keep out signs, aggressive stares", Who listed off, "has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?" He dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a toothpick and put it in his mouth.

"Doc, listen-" I cut myself off when he just walked on ahead without a care in the world. I shared an exacerbated glance with Rory, and we all moved to follow him. The sun was high in the sky, and the heat was a bit much for me. It was definitely a bad idea to wear a black shirt and dark grey pants.

I cleared my throat, as if that could help against the heat, while we made our way into a saloon. At our entrance, all the music and chatter died instantly, and all the customers looked at us. I stared at them all wide eyed, waving ever so slightly.

Who slapped a hand on the bad, looking confidently at the woman behind it. "Tea. The strong stuff." He put on a tough guy voice that only made him look less tough. Leave the bag in." Zomboss rolled his eyes, and Jenny smirked. I heard Gladius quietly chuckle into my shoulder.

"Whatcha' doing here, sir?" The woman asked.

The Doctor fumbled a bit and pulled the toothpick out of his mouth. "Son." He smiled. "You can stay."

"Sir?" One of the men stood tall. He looked like a pastor. "Might I inquire who you is?"

"Course! I'm The Doctor, this is-", Who was cut off when all the men stood from their seats, eyes locked onto the bow tie wearing man. "No need to stand." He turned to us. "See that? Manners!"

I cocked an eyebrow as a man came and with measuring tape, measuring The Doctor's shoulders.

Who turned around. "Oh? Thank you, but I don't need a new suit."

"I'm the undertaker, sir", the top hat man said.

The Doctor flashed him a smile, only to suddenly look at him in horror when it clicked. I passed a glance at Jenny as the men in the saloon started mumbling.

"I got a question", a younger man spoke up. "Is you an alien?"

Amy and Rory shared a look, while Zomboss' eyes bugged out.

"Well, um…", he looked at us for a moment, "Bit personal. It's heratative, isn't it? I mean I think you're the aliens! But in this context, yes. Yes… I suppose I am."

That set off the whole crowd, as a couple of the men lifted The Doctor in the air and started to carry him back to the entrance of town. Others kept their hold on me and my friends, keeping us from stopping whatever they were doing. I grunted and tried to wiggle free, but to no avail.

When we made it to the entrance, the men threw Who out, and when he stood up to try and get back in, they all brandished their revolvers and aimed right at Doctor Who. He raised his hands, clearly not a big fan of this rude welcome. I yelped and tried to move to stop it, but one of the cowboys stopped me. Same with Jenny, Amy and Rory.

I did my best to ignore the ringing in my ears that started when the cowboys drew their guns out.

After shooting who stopped me with a harsh glare, I looked back to Who, only to see something appear from right behind him a good distance away.

"He's coming", the pastor said. "Oh god… he's coming."

"Preacher", the young man said, eyes and gun glued to The Doctor. "Say something."

The pastor began to recite a couple passages from the bible, all while the mysterious man blinked in and out of existence, getting closer and closer to The Doctor. Who made a move to get back beyond the border, but all the cowboys taking aim with their guns stopped him. My heart beat skyrocketed as the clearly hostile man came closer and closer…

The ringing was getting louder…

Only for a gunshot fired into the air to silence everything. Turning around, I saw and was relieved the sheriff had finally made an appearance. We walked past the group, and looked at Who.

I winced when the ringing stopped suddenly, but no one noticed.

"You! Bow tie." He began. The Doctor pointed at himself. "Get back across that line." He paused to reveal his badge. "Now."

The Doctor did as he was told, and when we looked at the strange man, his steps heavy and loud, I felt my blood run cold. His whole upper right arm was a very dangerous looking gatling gun, so he was clearly hostile.

After standing and staring at us all with an emotionless gaze for a moment, he vanished.

"Issac", the younger man said to the sheriff. "He said he was a doctor. An alien doctor."

"That a reason to hand him to his death?" I instantly had a deep level of gratitude for the sheriff.

"But Issac it could be him!"

Isaac took a deep breath. "You know it ain't." He turned and started walking back into town, nodding at Amy and Jenny as he walked.

The Doctor followed after him, and soon was joined by the rest of us as Issac led us all the way to his office. I stepped in right after The Doctor, and looked around at the whole building as everyone came and got comfortable.

"What was that outside?" Who asked.

"The Gunslinger", Issac answered. "Showed up three weeks back. We've been prisoners ever since. See the borderline stretching 'round the town?" I nodded, and Zomboss grumbled about missing the deeper meaning. "Woke up one morning, there it was. Nothing gets past it, in or out. No supplies wagons, no reinforcements. Pretty soon the whole town's gonna starve to death."

"But… he let us in", Rory pointed out.

"You ain't carrying any food, just three more mouths to feed. We'll all die even sooner now."

"Um…" I started timidly. "What happens is someone crosses the line. I'd rather not have a repeat of what happened earlier."

Issac silently threw a spare hat at me, and I caught it with ease. Looking at it, there was a hole blasted clean through the top.

"Warning shot…" I whispered in horror. I passed the hat around so everyone could get a look at it.

"What does he want?" Amy asked when she got the hat. "Has he issued some kind of demand?"

"Says he wants us to give him the alien doctor." Issac answered.

"Wait… did he know we'd be here somehow?" Jenny asked in mild horror.

"Have you two met before?" Amy whispered.

"How could he know we'd be here?" Rory asked, aiming it at Jenny. "We didn't know we'd be here…"

I sighed, then faced Issac. "We were hoping to head to Mexico to see the Day Of The Dead festival. This wasn't what we expected…"

"Mexico's due two miles south."

The Doc licked his lips, then looked at Zomboss. "Well, that's what happens when you get toast crumbs on the console!" The zombie grumbled back, focusing his attention on his device. "Anyway, I think it's about time I met him."

The Doctor sat on Issac's desk happily. "Who?" The sheriff asked.

"The chap outside said I could be the alien doctor, but you said I wasn't, so you already know who it is." He let out a breathy laugh as we all gave him weird looks. "Two alien doctors. We're like buses. Resident 81 I presume, so beloved by the townsfolk he warranted inauguration to the sign, probably because he rigged up these electrics, and I'm guessing he's in here because if half the town suddenly wanted to throw me to my death…" He hopped off the desk and spun to face Issac. "This is where I'd want to be."

"I don't know what you-" Issac began, but a voice from the one cell cut him off.

"It's alright Issac." A man who was on the cell's bench/bed kicked the blanket off and stood up. He was well dressed, and seemed very sophisticated. "I think the time to subterfuge has passed." He walked up to the bars, and while he looked completely human, there was a green mark of some kind on the left of his face.

"Good afternoon. My name is Carla Jex. I'm the doctor."

~X~

I was leaning out against the railing of the Sheriff Office's deck, watching the setting sun disappear behind the town hall. Jex had explained to us who he was a while ago, and thus a plan was devised. With no way to call the others (I assumed the Gunslinger was jamming our walkie-talkies), The Doctor would go out and get the TARDIS so we could evacuate the town. Meanwhile, Rory and Issac would be playing distraction, luring the Gunslinger's attention elsewhere.

I took a deep breath. It was just me and Gladius at the moment. Jenny was circling the town like a guard dog, while Zomboss and Amy were with Jex inside.

"So, is the Wild West all that it's cracked up to be?" Gladius asked me, still tucked into his scabbard.

I shrugged. "Aside from the crazy assassin just outside the town, it's all been as I expected. While…" I gave a glance to a nearby lamp post. "Also aside from the electricity."

Gladius hummed, but before we could continue, we heard a very loud noise. It echoed through the air, and the first thing that came to mind was a car alarm.

I snapped to attention as Amy, Zomboss and Jex came outside. We all looked in the general direction of the sound. "That's the alarm on my ship", Jex said.

"Maybe The Doctor wants to get it working again?" Amy inquired.

Jenny ran over to us just as Jex said something that set off way too many red flags. "But that wasn't the plan. He's not following the plan."

"That's The Doctor for you", Zomboss grumbled. Jex stormed off into the office, leaving the rest of us to think about what was said.

"Was it just me…" Jenny whispered, gesturing us to lean in close. "Or did Jex seem… scared… that The Doctor found his ship."

"I'm going to check on him…" Amy said. She entered and closed the door… and we all froze when we heard a gun cock.

"Oh my god…" Jenny breathed out. She transformed her hand into an age appropriate weapon, eyes glued to the door.

It was just then Issac and Rory came back, and were clearly confused about what was happening.

"Caleb?" Mr.Pond said, dashing up to me. "What's going on, where's Amy?"

"Inside with Jex", I whispered. "He's armed."

That made Issac reach for his own gun, but Jenny stopped him. "Let me do the shooting, you do the talking."

She opened the door, and immediately poked the barrel of her gun into the back of Jed's neck.

He raised his hands, walking forward so we could all file in. "Doc?" Issac said. "What're you doin'?"

After Zomboss configured Jex's gun and we were 100% certain Amy was unharmed, we all cornered the alien doctor in the corner of the room. Jenny and Zomboss were glaring at him fiercely, while I just looked at him in betrayal. Amy and Rory were stone faced, showing no emotion.

"It was stupid of me", Jex desperately explained, "I realise that now, I just thought I put you all in enough danger. Perhaps if I left-"

"He's lying." The Doctor stormed into the room, the fire of rage visible in his eyes. 'Every word." He walked closer to Jex. "Everything he says." Jex stumbled back. "It's. All. Lies." I gulped, seeking comfort by hugging Amy's arm. "This man is a murderer."

"I am a scientist." Jex sounded fearful.

"Sit down…" The Doctor growled. It was silent for just a moment, Jex staring into Who's eyes in fear. "SIT DOWN!!!" Jex finally did as he was told after the shout, although it came at the cost of making us flinch. "Tell them what you are."

"What am I?" Jex sounded like he was getting his edge back, and it made me shiver. "A war hero."

"Ooookay…" Issac said, finally being a part of the conversation. "Somebody want to tell me… what is going on?"

"The Gunslinger is a cyborg", The Doctor started.

"What?"

"Half man, half machine. A weapon. Jex built it, he and his team took volunteers, told them they'd be selected for 'special training', then experimented on them. Fused them with weaponry, and programmed them to kill!"

Issac processed it all. "Okay. Why?" He looked to the man who started all of this. "Why would you do that, Doc?"

"We've been at war for nine years", Jex hissed, "A war that had already decimated half of our planet. Our task was to bring peace, and we did." I whimpered quietly, and Jenny's eyes hardened. "We built an army that routed the enemy and ended the war in less than a week. Do you want me to repent? To beg forgiveness for saving millions of lives?"

"How many died screaming on the operating table before you had found your advantage?!" The Doctor snarled, getting right into Jex's face.

I took a sharp breath as the image entered my head, tears starting to pool in my eyes. Amy luckily held my hand tighter and held me closer before the tears flowed.

"War is another world", Jex continued, "You cannot apply the politics of peace to what I did. To what any of us did."

Rory watched as The Doctor paced away, then faced Jex. "But what happened then, how come you're here?"

"When the war ended, we had the cyborgs decommissioned. One of them must have gotten its circuitry damaged in battle. It went offline and started hunting down the team that created it until just two of us were left. We fled… and our ships crashed here."

Zomboss snarled and Jenny was shaking with rage, both of them trying so hard not to just pull out their weapons and end Jex right here, right now. I tried to swallow the lump of horror and anguish in my throat as Rory, Amy and Issac turned around to have a quiet conversation. I looked over at The Doctor, and carefully made my way over to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a broken whisper.

He said nothing, simply pulling me into a side hug. I took a deep breath and buried my face into his side, just barely able to see Jex. He was looking at me, but I couldn't tell what his eyes were showing. Regret, pride, fear, joy… I couldn't tell.

I heard the conversation loud and clear, but I mostly tuned it out. I was much like The Doctor when Amy asked for his opinion. He was spaced out, too sucked up in all of this. But I was too, all because those mental images were constantly playing in my mind.

"Looking at you, Doctor…", Jex suddenly said, "Is like looking into a mirror. Almost. There's rage there, like me. Guilt, like me. Solitude." Who slowly turned to the alien doctor, and I tensed. "Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done!" Both doctors stared each other down in anger. "Thank the gods my people weren't relying on you to save them!"

"No… No!" The Doctor suddenly rushed over and lifted Jex out of his seat, dragging him out of the building while shouting. Jenny and Zomboss chased after him, then Issac, then Rory who stopped me, Amy and Gladius at the door.

Amy scoffed when her husband held up a hand. "Oh you're really letting him do this?"

"Save us all? I really am, yeah." Rory ran after the others.

The ringing in my ears was coming back, but I ignored it to share a glance with Amy.

"C'mon", she groaned, chasing after the others.

The Doctor forced Jex all the way out of town, throwing him beyond the border. As the alien doctor stood back up, Who was quick to grab a gun off a nearby person and aimed it at the man at the centre of all of this.

I whimpered as the ringing got louder, but I tried to stay at attention.

Issac called to Who, and he swung around just as Amy brandished her own gun and shot into the sky.

I could feel my heart rate increasing.

"Let him come back, Doctor!" Amy barked, pointing her gun at her friend.

"Or what? You won't shoot me, Amy."

"How do you know?" She cocked her gun again. "Maybe I've changed? I mean, you've clearly been taking stupid lessons since I saw you last-" She accidentally fired another bullet into the ground, making everyone jump.

I yelped and gripped Jenny's hand.

"I didn't mean to do that", she said with a hand raised. She fired a second time.

All I could hear was the ringing at that point. It was so loud, so intrusive that it made me space out. I could barely register what was even happening at this point. All I could make out through the static and noises was Issac saving Jex from the Gunslinger, the loud blast of the cyborg's rifle shutting my whole system down.

Jenny was quick to notice, and after sharing some muffled words with Amy and Rory, she quickly brought me back to the Sheriff's Office. Once we were inside, she set me down on a spare chair and knelt down so we were eye to eye.

"Caleb…" Her voice echoed through my head.

"Y-Yeah?" I stuttered.

"Just take a deep breath, okay? Focus on just me…"

I nodded and took a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. After a minute of repeating the exercise, I was back just enough to be aware of my surroundings.

"What the heck happened out there?" She asked in a calm whisper. Gladius shifted out of his scabbard and hovered next to the teenage robot.

"Bad… Bad memories", I gasped out, "People had guns… they hurt… it hurt…"

Jenny's eyes widened in horror. "Oh my god…"

"Caleb!" Zomboss called as he barged in. He looked at me in worry, but me shooting a thumbs up calmed him down. "Don't scare us like that again, okay? The Doctor, Amy and Rory are on their way, Jex will be here soon."

I nodded numbly and unstrapped Gladius' scabbard so I could hug it, falling asleep shortly after.

No ringing.

~X~

I slept through the whole night, and woke up at 11 AM. Apparently the Gunslinger was coming by around noon to take care of Jex. I was with Amy and Rory (with a marking like Jex's painted on his face) on the deck of the Sheriff's Office, watching the clock above the bank tick along.

"Are you sure you're okay, Caleb?" Amy asked me. She leaned down just a bit, trying to look me in the eye.

I took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah, I just needed some sleep. I'm sorry that I scared you guys like that."

Rory shook his head and pat me on the back. "It's alright. All the guns, the shooting, what happened with Issac… It's a lot."

"I just… had a bad experience with guns…" Carefully, I lifted the sleeve to my left arm, and just below the shoulder… was a scar. A round, faded scar that almost looked like cracked glass.

Amy's eyes widened, and Rory took a sharp breath. "Caleb…" Mrs.Pond began. "When did…"

"A long time ago", I said in a monotone way. "It's… I can't remember it well, but I still feel the trauma. That's why I shut down. I nearly did when we first got here, but luckily Issac saving The Doctor with one shot made it all stop."

Amy pursed her lips, then hugged me from the side. "Well, whatever happened, I'm sure it was one and done."

I nodded absentmindedly, then thought of something. "Before we picked you two up, The Doctor was asking if he could tag along on my adventure." I looked between the two of them. "Would you two like to tag along?"

Both Ponds opened their mouths in shock. "Seriously?" Rory was in disbelief.

"Of course. The more the merrier, and you two are just… really nice to be around. I… it feels like I actually have parents that I can go to for support. Plus, having Doc tag along, but not either of you would just be weird."

Amy looked at me with hesitation. "I'm sure that'd be nice, Caleb, but… what about home? I don't want to go back and be three years older when everyone last saw us."

I shook my head. "That's the best part. No ageing! Gladius told me that when you leave your universe, you never age until you go back. Then you age however long you were gone."

"That's… well…" Rory was clearly trying to come up with a counterpoint, but then eventually just sighed. "Honestly, that does sound fun."

"Plus, you guys would get away from the dangers of your universe. Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, all of those monsters that rummage around in your closet. No cracks in space time, no Pandorica, no being sent back in time and becoming a centurion."

Both Ponds shared a look, then looked back at me with a smile. "Sure. We'd love to tag along."

I beamed up at them, only for my smile to fall when I saw The Doctor walk out. He flashed me a look, and I nodded. I swiftly headed back inside the office with Amy, ready to put the plan into action.

It was simple: have some of the townspeople run around with a marking like Jex's to throw off the Gunslinger so said alien doctor could get to his shape and fly away. I wasn't the biggest fan of the plan, as was Jenny, but we both kept quiet about our distaste. Tension was already high enough.

I sat down in the chair behind the desk, my shut down yesterday having The Doctor decide I was sitting this one out. Jenny was guarding the door, Gladius was idly flying about, and Zomboss… looked a bit concerned as he stared at his device's screen.

I gave him a questioning look, and scooted over to him. "Everything okay, Dr.Z?"

He hummed. "Yes… and no."

That caught Amy, Jenny and Gladius' attention.

"What does that mean?" I asked in apprehension.

"Well… it's because I don't know what it means." He showed us the screen, and it showed a chart that almost resembled a tree branch. "This is the timeline, in all its glory. But this", he pointed out a weird signal, "Has been on my scans every day since we first arrived and The Doctor let me connect to the TARDIS. I didn't think much of it at first because whenever I reset this blasted thing, it would disappear."

"But now it's not", Jenny said, her voice cracking with a bit of fear.

"Should we tell The Doctor?" Amy said.

"Let's wait", Gladius said calmly. "We're already dealing with more than enough at the moment…", He glanced back at Jex for a moment, "But after, we tell him."

We all nodded and broke off. And the timing couldn't be more perfect, because it was just when Amy had to let Jex out so he could run to his ship. As he dipped away around the corner, I went over and sat back down on my chair. I took a deep breath, and took in the sounds.

Explosions, metal stomping, the ticking of the wall clock, and Amy's foot tapping on the floor as she bounced her leg.

It was an odd mix of sounds, but it was still strangely soothing. So much so, I began to nod off back to sleep…

Only to jolt when a loud explosion shook the whole building.

"What the heck just happened?!" I cried out, shooting out of my chair.

Jenny's expression was neutral. "It was Jex. He set off his ship's self-destruct as a way to end the madness."

Amy's mouth twitched into a frown for just a moment.

Zomboss sighed. "Well, hopefully the afterlife treats him fairly." He bowed in respect.

I looked out the window. " At least it's over now…" I clapped my hands, making everyone jump. "Let's get The Doc and Rory, say our goodbyes, and dip." I groaned. "I was holding this in for our whole time, but black doesn't like the Wild West desert!"

That got a laugh out of all my friends, and I smiled at my job well done. We all left the office, finding The Doctor bidding farewell to the Gunslinger in the centre of town, Rory next to him, and smiled when they faced us.

"Well, not any sort of Day Of The Dead festival", The Doctor said, "But I say that was fun. A job well done."

Rory rolled his eyes. "You say that about every adventure we go on."

"Hey, it's the truth. You both had fun, didn't you?" Amy nodded with a smile, and Rory quietly chuckled and nodded right after his wife. Who then spun and faced the rest of us. "And you four?"

"Eh, it was cool." Jenny admitted with a shrug.

"Again, I've been to the Wild West. This was nothing special", Zomboss said with an egotistical grin, making us all roll our eyes playfully.

"Not what I expected, but fun nonetheless." Gladius affirmed with a nod.

"Well, aside from the killer cyborg, way too many guns and the heat", I listed off with a frustrated look, before flashing Doctor Who a smirk. "It was amazing."

"Excellent!" The time traveller clapped his hands together. "Just wait here, I'm going to get the TARDIS, and we'll shove off."

"I'm coming with you!" Zomboss shouted, raising his hand. "There's something we need to talk about."

The two scientists walked off, and I felt a twinge of worry. Whatever was on Zomboss' scans wasn't bad… right? Looking up to the sky, I swore for a moment I saw something that resembled a flaming comet appear for a split second, but it was gone so fast I couldn't tell.

Turning back to watch the departing scientists as my other friends went to assist the town in the aftermath of all of this, I could only hope it wasn't so bad.

But then a thought came to me…

Was it what hit me in the portal? Is that what Zomboss is picking up?

I gulped fearfully, before dashing to join the others.

~X~

OH MY GOD. This is, by far, the longest chapter I have written for this story so far. 23003 words total (Not counting this little end bit). Like, WOW, that's impressive and excessive.

But I had fun all the way. Writing my own takes on Asylum Of The Daleks, Dinosaurs On A Spaceship and A Town Called Mercy was such a blast even if it took a while, but it was oh-so worth it. Thank you to all my dedicated fans for reading this absolutely massive chapter.

Up next: Zomboss' scans prove true, as something is breaking time at the seams and causing timelines to collide…

~Caleb~