Vol.2, Ch.25:
It was all pitch black until a dim light began to appear. The light grew brighter as eyes were opening up and all that was heard was noises from the TARDIS. Weiss gasped for air as she rose up and looked around to see the others unconscious. They were still alive somehow and not into ashes by the Void, but her heart still stung after seeing Remnant destroyed entirely by the Void. Their home, their friends, their family, all gone in a matter of seconds.
Weiss: *stands up slowly* Girls...
With one response, she was relieved at her teammates were waking up as well after the incident. Yang got up the fastest to check on her little sister as Blake was the slowest in getting back up. Weiss looked at herself in the screen panel to see that her body had fully regenerated once again after becoming old and pale from using most of her powers.
Yang: Are we...still alive? *Helps Ruby up*
Weiss: It looks like it. I thought...we were completely gone when the Void approached us.
Ruby: Remnant...*looks down as tears fall* Everyone we knew...
The four girls could only share saddened looks and silence as the realization was fully kicking into them. That was their home world, where they were born and growing up, where they had friends they'd met along the way, the families they were a part of, and the memories.
It pained Ruby and Yang specifically knowing the last thing they would see before jumping into the TARDIS was their Uncle Qrow and now he's gone. Their father as well. Blake fell to her knees thinking about her parents, Sun, Ilia, all her closest people while Weiss thought of her mother, Klein, and Winter. Jaune, Ren, and Nora were gone as well, so many people they met and cared for are now all dead.
Blake: W-What do we do now? How are we alive? Where are we?
Ruby: Where's Khan...
The four looked around in panic for their Dalek friend who was nowhere in sight. Ruby, Yang, and Blake looked all over for him while Weiss tried to locate him but to her surprise, he was outside.
Weiss: Girls, he's right outside the door.
Ruby: Is he perhaps tracking the Void? Did he land us on another planet?
The four slowly opened the door to see Dalek Khan okay as they looked around to see that they were on another planet and could faintly see the Void coming which meant not much time was left to think of something. Yang turned around and noticed another thing as well.
Yang: The crack is still open...
The four turned around to see the crack of the universe very close and slightly more opened up which meant more bad news. The four knew if the Void could go right through, the other universe could be in jeopardy. They approached Dalek Khan who noticed them but didn't say anything.
Weiss: Khan, what do we do now? How much time do we have before the Void approaches?
The Dalek did not respond once again as the four were confused and worried about their friend's state if he saw something or if he was even in there. As they tried to get his attention, Blake noticed his eyestalk was still on and was looking at a specific area, she followed and caught something as well that shocks her.
Blake: G-Guys...I think Khan sees something...
The three turned to their Faunus friend and looked at where she was pointing. It was little far ahead but they were able to get a good sight of it and when they did, their eyes couldn't believe what their Dalek friend was watching:
Another TARDIS.
Weiss: I-Is...Is that-
Ruby: That's another TARDIS! Same one as the Doctor!
Yang: B-But how? Could that be our Doctor from the past...or the future?
Blake: It's possible, he could have sent some kind of message to either the past or future to help us out.
Dalek Khan: It is not him.
The four heard Dalek Khan who responded in a disbelief tone which meant this could be someone else, someone to help or to takeover. They noticed a figure come out of the other TARDIS as they began to walk towards them while they all brought out their weapons in case the figure was looking for a fight. As the figure got closer, Team RWBY noticed his outfit being a black frock coat, black waistcoat with a white buttoned shirt, dark dress pants, and brown dress shoes.
Mysterious Man: What are you girls doing out here with that TARDIS? Is that Dalek holding you hostage?
The figure spoke with a Scottish accent as he approached them, and the girls were able to get a better look at the figure who happens to be a tall, thin-faced man with grown out silver-grey hair. He looked around his late 50s early 60s for his age. To their surprise, he knows about the TARDIS and the Dalek which confirmed one thing in mind: He's a Time Lord.
Ruby: The Dalek isn't holding us hostage, he's our friend and ally!
Weiss: The TARDIS isn't ours either. It belongs to a friend who you might happen to know him.
Yang: He's called the Doctor so don't get any funny ideas because we are dealing with a universal crisis!
Mysterious Man: Seems like a lot of rubbish talk from each of you except for the universal crisis which is true. Let me make it clear to the four of you, there is no such thing as a Dalek friend and there is no way of another Doctor existing unless he's a future incarnation because I certainly don't know any of you from the past.
Blake: And what makes you so confident of that!
12th Doctor: Because I Am the Doctor! The one, the only, and the original you might say!
The eyes of the four girls widened and let out small gasps at this sudden drop of information. They couldn't believe it that the man in front of them was The Doctor, the original one, and the man who saved their Doctor from the Time War. That's why Dalek Khan is stunned and now they are as well.
Weiss: Y-You... H-How can...
Ruby: How are you here...alive?
12th Doctor: Quite a rude way to question who I am? Do I happen to know you in the future? And I'll ask one more time, what is THAT Dalek doing here as well?
Ruby, Blake, and Yang got in front of Dalek Khan which surprised the older time lord and was questioning what was going on until Weiss approached him hoping that the information, she's about to say will be enough for him to understand.
Weiss: W-We heard about you! The man they call the Doctor, the man who battled in the Last Great Time War! B-But he said you died like all the other time lords!
12th Doctor: How do you know all that? And who is he you are referring to?
Weiss: The Doctor! Our Doctor! The boy you saved in the Time War from being exterminated by the Daleks!
This information hit the Doctor like tons of bricks as he stood back a bit. He couldn't believe it, the young boy he saved in the Time War was in this universe, these four girls were his companions, and this TARDIS was his!
12th Doctor: H-He's alive? HE'S ALIVE! *chuckles* Do you have any idea how happy I am to hear that!
Weiss: Not entirely...*points to the Void* That thing is being controlled by a ship led by a tyrant who is possessing the Doctor's body. The Doctor was trying to stop it...but he couldn't...
12th Doctor: I noticed that storm...it has destroyed almost the entire universe to nothing.
Ruby: It destroyed our home planet as well...Remnant.
12th Doctor: Ah...*sighs and looks down* I am...truly sorry to hear that. Not what I was expecting when I came to this universe through there. *Points at the crack*
Weiss: Doctor. Our Doctor is still alive but barely. Krall, the alien that's controlling the Void is possessing his body and once he is fully in control of it-
12th Doctor: Then we will not waste more time. The first set of the plan is to land at a hidden and secure spot on the ship. Once we get there, we'll discuss the rest of the plan. If that storm is coming for the crack of the universe, then our universes will be in danger. *Looks at Dalek Khan* I still wonder why are you here?
Dalek Khan: I... did not wish to die in the Time War... I was scared... but our Doctor spared me... and I saved him from extermination.
12th Doctor: How is that even possible?
The Doctor knew this wouldn't be his first rodeo with a Dalek that goes through change. The Dalek that felt emotions and feelings from absorbing the time DNA from Rose Tyler, Dalek Sec, and Rusty. All changed in different ways but remained true to theirselves of being a Dalek. The Doctor was understanding this one was very different which scared him and intrigued him.
12th Doctor: I assume one of you girls knows how to pilot the TARDIS?
Weiss:*raises my hand* He taught me. Maybe we don't know all of it like you, but I do know the basics. Khan as well knows how to pilot it.
12th Doctor: A Dalek piloting the TARDIS. Now I've seen everything. Well you three head back in and follow me. Ice Queen, you are with me.
The Doctor walks back to his TARDIS as Weiss looked at her teammates with mixed thoughts about this.
Weiss: This is a lot to take in.
Ruby: I know but like he said, we don't have much time. Go with him, we'll follow you there.
Weiss nodded and hugged her teammates before rushing to the Doctor's TARDIS while Team RBY and Dalek Khan entered their Doctor's TARDIS as they were now both off at the last attempt to stop Krall and save Remnant's Doctor. Weiss looked around the Original's TARDIS to see the interior almost the same as her Doctor with a few tweaks to make it different.
She looked up to see some kind of propeller with names written in Gallifreyan language. She began to name each of them which caught The Doctor's attention and surprising him as to how a human can know Gallifrey language unless the boy taught her.
Weiss: Susan. Jaime. Jo. Nyssa...Rose. Jack Harkness. Martha Jones. Donna Noble. Amy Pond. Rory Pond. River Song.
12th Doctor: Did he teach you our language? No one in the universe except for us can understand our language.
Weiss: N-No sir. It just sort of happened. A lot has happened ever since our Doctor arrived to our universe, to Remnant. So many wonderful things but bad things as well. And some...*raises my hand and glows* Unexpected.
The Doctor rushed to Weiss in disbelief as he looked at her hand then did a full scan of her with his Sonic Screwdriver which led to Weiss thinking if every Time Lord had to carry one. As the Doctor get the results, he looked at the Schnee in confusion.
12th Doctor: You shouldn't be alive. How do you even have regeneration? Because with or without it, time vortex can kill you but to see no signs of fatality is what speaks wonders to me.
Weiss: For starters, we humans on Remnant have a thing called Semblance. It's like a personal power that grows inside of us as we grow up. When I was on the verge of being erased from existence, the Doctor gave me the ability to regenerate from injuries and mortal wounds, as for the time vortex he did say the same thing but I guess because I have a small portion...it's like it's merging into something new.
12th Doctor: That boy sure does out his trust and faith in you a lot especially to hand you one of his regenerations.
Weiss: One of his?
12th Doctor: Ah. I take it he hasn't told you about the specialty of Time Lords? I didn't have this face when I saved him in the Time War. I was much older...and very tired from all of it.
Weiss: He told me about the Time War from his point of view. He thought you died which I can tell hurt him. When he came to Remnant, he started off by trying to be exactly like you and...it was hurting him to the point where he questioned who he was exactly besides a lost boy. The last time I saw him, he was different in a good way because he's the Doctor, but he was becoming his own.
12th Doctor: He was thinking too much about what I would do and not what he should do. Yes, I am the Doctor but anyone can also be the Doctor as long as they bring good. As Time Lords, we can do anything. There's nothing we can't do. Nothing. But some of us like him and me not supposed to. Ripples, tidal waves, rules.
Weiss: Yeah...he definitely learned that and it has helped him. For us, he's the Doctor of Hope and Kindness. Whenever there is trouble, he comes in to save people but as well give them hope so that one day, we can continue the movement. And he such a kind man...*smiles softly* The way he cares for others and does his best to bring light into the dark...
12th Doctor: Now it's starting to make sense for me. I assume that you and him were...
Weiss: We...acknowledged that we had feelings for each other, but it wasn't until recently that we officially began to...*blushes* ...date.
12th Doctor: Love, in all its forms, is the most powerful weapon we have. Believe me, I know that feeling very well...Love can also bring pain.
Weiss was going to question what the Doctor was referring to until she noticed a picture of a beautiful woman with frizzy hair and a smile that would make anyone's heart skip a beat.
Weiss: Is she...
12th Doctor: River Song. She was my wife for a very long time, and I could not have changed it a bit. Of course, through different incarnations due to regeneration, we tend to have connections with different people. A few faces back, a previous incarnation fell with someone named Rose Tyler. I, however, while keeping her in my two hearts, moved on. River...the first day I met her was her last day before she died. Thankfully, we spent our last day in the Singing Towers of Darillium.
Just knowing when he said "was" gave Weiss the details she needed. It took a little bit to understand what he meant by their meeting until it hit her that their timelines were in different directions and the last time she got to be with him was the first time he met her. It was a cruel and heartbreaking ending to their relationship but a hopeful beginning for the Doctor at the time.
12th Doctor: Perhaps your Doctor told you a lot about me but I was far from perfect image. I am not a hero. I'm nowhere a bad man, not a God, not some kind power figure. I'm just an idiot trying to figure out if I truly am a Good man.
Weiss: O-Oh no, we know that! Besides the hero part, he made it sound like that. But he would also tell us about the conflicts, dangers, and enemies you have dealt with. We've already had encounters with some creatures that perhaps you already dealt with: Cyberman, Weeping Angels, Slitheen.
12th Doctor: You've had it rough considering they are some of the most dangerous creatures. You should be grateful that any of you have encountered the Daleks
Weiss: Yeah, unlike Khan we got a horrific feeling of how they actually are. Doesn't it...get to you sometimes Doctor? All of this to deal with it and just feeling like when will it stop?
12th Doctor: Of course it does. I've lived for over 2,000 years and it doesn't stop just as I keep going. I've seen and encountered things where I almost died...and I have lost very close people to me. Sometimes I wonder...if I should just stop. But then it brings me back that maybe not yet because the universe will be dark and very cold if I stop.
Weiss would not lie that at first when she met the Original Doctor, she saw him as the one at the top, the one that everyone knows about as a legend. But now, after what they talked and what she learned from him so far, he's just like her Doctor. Just passing through the universe and trying to do some good.
She wanted to ask more from him, about how her Doctor is no longer the last Time Lord, about Gallifrey but a heavy thud was heard which meant they have successfully landed on the ship of the Void.
12th Doctor: Wa la! Just as planned and your friends are arriving as well. Now, let's make a move on and stop this before it gets very much worse.
The two headed out of the TARDIS as Team RBY and Dalek Khan did the same having the group all together and awaiting what the Doctor's plan would be.
Yang: So how we do this? We split up so half of us can find how to stop this and the other half finds our Doctor?
12th Doctor: What is it with you people and splitting up. We are NOT splitting up Ooookay? We have to stick together and go where we can kill two birds with one stone. Little Red, Ice Queen, Explosive Blonde, and the Princess, just follow-
Ruby: Actually, hehe it's Ruby. Ruby Rose. *giggles*
Weiss: Yeah, enough with the Ice Queen, I'm Weiss Schnee.
Yang: Yang. And I am not explosive!
12th Doctor: Your impulsive energy says otherwise. And you Princess?
Blake: A-Ah! Blake sir!
12th Doctor: This is all could have been avoided and less wasted time if you said when we first met instead of being shocked like you've seen a Zygon. Cmon!
Ruby: *whispers* I like our Doctor better.
12th Doctor: I heard that.
Weiss: Khan? Watch both TARDIS in case they're spotted. We'll get back and with our Doctor as well!
Khan nodded as he remained in position of guarding both TARDIS while the gang all followed the Doctor as they carefully walked through hidden passages while the Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to locate the control room of Krall. As they passed by, they noticed the humanoids figures which terrified the girls while the Doctor as usual, fascinated by them.
12th Doctor: It be best that we leave them be. Trying to fight them would simply waste time and I would very much want this void to be destroyed.
Yang: *whispers* He's very much different than from what we imagined when our Doctor talked about him.
Blake: I think it's because of the Time War.
12th Doctor: Believe me Blake, it's not just that. I'm over 2,000 years old and I have gone through so much since the Time War. I've seen and done marvelous things; I've experienced the most difficult situations...and I have lost those who I cared for...and all because I was an old man exploring the universe.
He was no hero, he wasn't perfect, Team RWBY caught that right away and just by the sound of his voice, they feared for what he has been through especially losing loved ones. It made the four now understand why their Doctor tried to push them away during the final weeks before Beacon fell; He was scared of losing them and it happened. By the events of the Weeping Angels and Fall of Beacon.
As they continued their journey, they were being watched by Krall who had a displeased reaction to seeing the four girls alive but interested in the old man. He felt a familiar presence and knew he was a Time Lord as well. Chuckling, he snaps his fingers for the same portal entry Remnant Doctor entered to appear in front of the five.
Blake: A portal?
Ruby: What if it's a trap?
12th Doctor: It's not. It leads us to where we need to be.
Not wasting time, the Doctor jumps through the portal and a few seconds of waiting and debating, Team RWBY jump in as well and find themselves alongside the Doctor in a different room. They stood close and slowly walked as they approached Krall's throne as Weiss could only look at him with rage while The Doctor and Team RBY looked on in horror at seeing their time lord friend possessed and taken over by this entity.
12th Doctor: I'm the Doctor. And you'll know that there is a line in between, and I'm the man on the other side of it. You have someone that belongs to us And you are up to something even you can't control.
Krall: Two Time Lords named The Doctor. What an interesting situation. But I'm afraid you are too late, *stands up* The boy is slowly succumbing to the darkness that will kill him, and this body will be mine to keep.
Yang: LET HIM GO BASTARD! YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS TO TAKE OVER SOMEONE!
Krall: Hot headed I see. How did that work for you? *Looks at her arm then Blake* It resulted in leaving you broken by losing a piece and losing someone.
12th Doctor: Leave them out of this. I am the Original Doctor, and I am far smarter and more dangerous than the boy. So, I suggest you take it in and let him go, I won't say it again.
Hearing this voice and confirming to be The Doctor made the young time lord rise instantly from the dark liquid that was absorbing him. He couldn't believe what he heard, the Doctor, the man of all time and space, the man who saved him was alive and here! He tried to run to the small light that's away from him, but the dark liquid kept holding him down.
Weiss: That is enough Krall. You destroyed our home, the people we cared for, and all for your little salvation plan.
Krall: Creating the universe at my image. But there has been a change of plans, *points to the crack of the universe* What's better than reigning over one universe? Two. Time does gets us all Doctor, even you.
12th Doctor: Believe me, I have already experienced it. But she is right, here you wish to play God, create your own rules for your universe, and continue until there is nothing else to do. Then what will you do?
Krall: Considering that there are gateways to other universes, I will continue to do what I must and what I please.
12th Doctor: You truly are lost. Out of the mind. Sick. No chance of mercy whatsoever. I could have offered you my hand, ask you to take it, and try to change what you believe. But we are past that because of what you did, that option is close...so the only option now is to defeat you.
Krall: You don't get it do you? You kill me, you kill your little friend. You won't get anything from this.
12th Doctor: Who said anything about killing you. DOCTOR! If you are still in there somewhere and I hope you are, I need you, your friends need you, the universe. Find your way out of Krall, escape the darkness that contains you, fight it and break free.
And he was right, for Remnant's Doctor was in fact still alive as he continued to walk to the light that was slowly growing but each time he would move, the black ooze would try to take him back. Krall was ready to end this until Team RWBY stepped in front and positioned themselves for combat.
Krall: *laughs* You really willing to hurt him just to stop me?
Weiss: No!
Ruby: We just need to stall some time so HE can stop you!
Blake: Doctor, try and figure out how to stop this void!
Krall releases a blast of his powers right at them, only to be deflected by a shield created by Weiss's powers. The four surrounded the tyrant and began their fight. Their Doctor had been there to help them and save them from risks and dangers ever since he arrived to Remnant. Now it was their time to return the favor and save him from Krall. The Original Doctor saved him in Gallifrey so he could live on and do what he promised to accomplish, to be The Doctor.
For the fate of this universe and others all over, the fate of the Doctor and Team RWBY, was now back in the hands of the Remnant Doctor once again.