Chapter Three
Previously...
Adric gasped as his eyes snapped open as he found himself in a dark room. He had no idea where he was as the evil being Aethriol has taken over his body. He slowly rose up and looked around his surroundings, trying to come to terms of what was going on.
"Is anybody there?" Adric asked as his voice echoed in the background, "Hello? Doctor? Doctor, are you there? Nyssa? Tegan? Anyone?"
He heard growling in the background. The black ground slowly turned to a purplish ember color, where faceless beings with long fingers that looked like claws slowly emerged. Adric looked at another section to see the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Natasha along with the Barton Family and it looked as if they were leaving the school.
"Doctor!" Adric called for his friends, "Doctor! I can see you! Doctor? Tegan! Nyssa! Can you guys hear me! Doctor!"
The beings began to come closer to the Alzarian as they were chanting, "Feel our power. Be in us. Feel us. Be in us. Conform to us."
"No! Help me!" Adric cried out in fear as the faceless beings came closer to him, "Please! Somebody help me! Doctor!"
The young boy was unaware that the Doctor had heard him, albeit in his mind. At first, the Doctor thought it was only his imagination because he saw "Adric" before him but as Adric's voice was shouting in the Time Lord's mind, the Doctor began to suspect that something was not right with Adric and he would be in for a surprise to find out what that would be.
The faceless beings were dragging Adric as he was trying to fight them. He looked in shock to see a reddish portal that they were going to take him to.
"Doctor!" Adric shouted again, "Doctor! Help!"
"No!" shouted a female voice. The portal vanished the second the faceless beings were knocked down by a mysterious figure. After all the beings were knocked down, the Alzarian looked to see a female with green skin, shoulder length red hair, wearing black top with a black jacket, jeans and black boots.
"Come with me." the woman told the young man, "You will be safe from those monsters."
"Who...who are you?" Adric asked.
"Gamora."
Gamora led Adric to an orange background area of this mysterious place he had been transported to. From there, one of the Doctor's former companions Katarina was waiting for them.
"Did you find get to him in time?" Katarina asked.
"Yes." Gamora answered, "Luckily I was there before those wraiths could drag him out of existence."
"I am relieved." Katarina smiled with relief.
"Were you sacrificed for the Soul Stone?" Gamora asked Adric.
"What? No." Adric answered, "Some evil entity is possessing my body and that is how I ended up here."
"I see." Gamora answered, "In that case that must mean you are in the realm of the in between. That happens to people sometimes. Those who are transported here that is."
"Is that how I can see the Doctor and my friends?"
"Yes. You can talk to them with all your best efforts but they cannot hear you."
"That is why the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan could not hear me."
"Exactly."
"I hope the Doctor can find a way to free that evil being that is possessing me at the moment."
The two were startled hearing another noise. Adric and Gamora arrived at a tower that was close by. The red head had the young Alzarian to remain quiet as she looks out of the tower to see what the noise was.
Within the moment, they would end up finding out where the noise was coming from as two more familiar figures appeared before. It was Adric's older brother Varsh and Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye.
"Adric!" Varsh exclaimed, "Don't tell me that you was sacrificed to the soul stone as well!"
"Varsh?!" Adric was surprised to see his older brother.
"And you two," Clint snapped at Gamora and Katarina, "don't you ever run off on us like that again!"
"What is wrong? You missed us?" Gamora retorted.
Clint sighed roughly in annoyance.
"He is not even dead." Katarina told Varsh, "Which is unusual as normally those that died enter here."
"She is right. I was not sacrificed for the Soul stone." Adric explained to Varsh, "I was sent to some strange place where some faceless beings tried to drag me out of existence. That was after my body got possessed by some evil entity."
"That explains why I am here as well." Varsh replied, "I was still at the TARDIS and the next thing I knew, I was sent here and that is where I met Clint Barton here and it was not that long ago."
"How could you be at this Doctor's TARDIS when you are dead?" Gamora asked.
"I was a ghost after I was killed by the Marshmen." Varsh answered.
"So who are you?" Adric asked Katarina, "and how did you end up here?"
"My name is Katarina." Katarina introduced herself and proceeded to explain herself, "After I was thrown into space when I sacrificed myself saving the Doctor and Steven, I ended up in the Dead Zone. That is what the dark side of the Soul World is called. I managed to find the orange light which is the light side of the soul world before the Wraiths were able to drag me out of existence. So you know the Doctor too?"
"Yes." Adric answered, nodding his head, "Varsh did too."
"Albeit for a short period of time." Varsh acknowledged his statement, "When Adric first met him that is."
"What about Steven?" Katarina asked, "Do you know how he is doing?"
"Um, no." Adric answered, "I do not think so. The Doctor never mentioned him."
"So we all have met the Doctor at one point in time." Clint stated.
"It looks like it." Gamora nodded as she crossed her arms, "When I was with my fellow Guardians of the Galaxy and the Voltron Force."
"What happened to you two?" Adric asked.
"I was sacrificed for the Soul stone at Vormir by Thanos." Gamora answered, "and this was when he was wanting to wipe out half of all life in the universe."
"I met a similar situation." Clint added, "Except while Madame Web was talking to Natasha, I was able to sacrifice myself for the Soul stone so that Natasha can obtain it to undo the snap that Thanos did that wiped out my family. Do you know if my family is okay? Is Natasha okay?"
"Yeah." Adric answered, "I saw them, and Natasha's friends and boyfriend before I got possessed by an evil entity."
Adric, Clint, Katarina and Gamora looked at the screen to see the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Natasha talking with Laura, Lila, Nathaniel, Cooper and the being that was possessing Adric's body: Aethriol.
"Good." Clint sighed with relief, "Laura and the kids are safe, and Natasha is alright. I knew she would be."
He perked up before asking, "Wait, Natasha has a boyfriend now?"
"Yes," Adric nodded, "His name is Richie Ryan."
"Well damn," Clint muttered.
"Adric," Varsh asked, "if you are here, then who is that being that is possessing your body?"
"The female creep that sent the entity in my body," Adric answered, "she called it Aefriol."
"That is not good." Gamora replied.
"You know about Aefriol?"
"After he finds a woman to be his queen," Gamora explained, "he will do what it takes to go back to his home world of Mylithos, maybe use the female to do so, where he was exiled along with Prumiva, the last of his cult, and he will proceed with his universal domination."
Adric groaned in pain.
"Are you alright?" Varsh asked in concern.
"I...I do not know." Adric groaned in pain, "I feel terrible things. Evil things. The things that Aefriol feel. Lust, anger and the need to destroy things."
"That is not good." Clint quipped.
"You need to snap out of it." Varsh grabbed his younger brother, "You know that is not you."
"I know." Adric managed to stand up and catch his breath, "I know."
"He needs to rest." Katarina told the others.
"What about the Doctor?" Adric asked, "We got to stop Aefriol."
"I am sure that he will find a way to stop Aethriol and save you." Gamora answered, "You will need to rest and work on resisting Aefriol's dark influence over you."
Adric looked on and nodded, "Doctor. Please hurry."
-The-Host-Remastered-
Nyssa was sitting by herself in the guest room that she was sharing for the night with Tegan, Aefriol and the Doctor. Come the next day, the group would return to the TARDIS and prepare for their next destination, where ever that would be, and Duncan and his friends would return to Seacouver.
"I need to ask Natasha something," the Doctor told his companions.
"And what would that be?" Tegan asked.
"I want to offer her a chance to travel with us." the Doctor answered.
"That sounds exciting." Nyssa replied, "To have an Avenger travel with us as a companion just like we are. Do you think that she would be able to handle it?"
"She knows the risk of her own job with SHEILD as well as being an Avenger." the Doctor stated, "so I am sure that she can handle the risks with us."
"Well," Tegan replied, "if you say so, why don't you ask her?"
"That is what I am going to do now. If you will excuse me."
With that, the Doctor left the guest room to talk with Natasha. Aefriol appeared to be unfazed with the conversation as he was interested in getting his queen and heading off to Mylithos to begin his universal conquest. After the Time Lord left, Aefriol looked over at Tegan, "Don't you have somewhere to go?"
"Excuse me?" Tegan scoffed in annoyance.
"What I meant was," Aefriol was trying his best not to blow his cover at the moment, "Do you have something that you need to do?"
"Actually." Tegan quickly answered, " I need to go to the bathroom. I will go to the bathroom."
With that, the Aussie left the room to do what she needed to do, leaving Aefriol alone with Nyssa.
-The-Host-Remastered-
The Doctor found Natasha in the other guest room she was sharing with Richie, Amanda and Duncan. There were two beds, and he figured out who was sleeping with who as the group was talking.
"What if the Doctor asks us to travel with him?" Richie asked.
"I dunno," Natasha shrugged her shoulders, "it would sound a bit crowded for all of us."
"Joe is expecting us back tomorrow night," Duncan explained, "but if my suspicions are right regarding one of the Doctor's friends, I'll call him and let him know we'll be late until we get the situation resolved."
"How long do you think it might be?" Amanda asked as the Doctor listened intently on the conversation.
"It depends on everything," Duncan answered, "from finding out the truth to what the situation is, and getting the situation resolved."
"Does the Doctor know you are immortal now?" Amanda asked.
"I'm certain he will know eventually," Richie added, "knowing how time lords are given what you've told us."
"Natasha," the Doctor spoke up, getting the famed Russian spy's attention.
"Hey, Doctor." Natasha greeted the Time Lord.
"Natasha." the Doctor walked over to the Avenger and her new friends, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Natasha answered, "I will be. It is just sad considering that Clint is no longer here. God I miss him."
"He would not want you to mourn unnecessarily." the Doctor assured her.
"You are right you know." Natasha replied holding her head up, "Besides, our plan worked and we defeated Thanos. That is all that matters."
"So, you guys are immortal?" the Doctor asked.
"I have been for some time now," Natasha answered, "but from what I found out from Madame Web, I have been immortal since my first death from a freak accident during a battle a few years ago prior to the events with Thanos."
"What about the rest of you?" the Doctor asked, "how long have you been immortal?"
Duncan, Amanda and Richie looked at the time lord in silence at first.
"Don't worry," the Doctor assured them, "along with the Watchers, I already know about immortals. Your secret will be safe with me."
Amanda sighed before speaking up, "I'm over a thousand years old, and I helped out Natasha and brought her to her first teacher, my boyfriend, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod."
"And I am over 400 years told," Duncan nodded as he noticed his girlfriend glanced at him, "I was Natasha's teacher after she found out she was immortal."
"What about you?" the Doctor asked Richie.
"I'm not as old as Mac and Amanda," Richie answered, "I became immortal after I met MacLeod. It was the same night the mugger shot me and Tessa when he was robbing us for money and stuff for drugs. I became immortal that night, but Tessa, she..."
He sighed sadly and Duncan looked down sadly, remembering the night he lost the woman he loved.
"I'm sorry to hear," the Doctor replied.
"Thanks," Duncan and Richie replied in unison.
"Too bad he was never brought to justice," Amanda muttered.
"Richie came close to it," Natasha interjected, "but eventually, he chose not to."
There was a pause of silence.
"I was wondering something." the Doctor began his proposition.
"And what would that be?"
"I was thinking of you over the past couple of hours and I was wondering...how would you like to travel in the TARDIS with me, Nyssa, Adric and Tegan, all throughout time and space?"
"Oh God."
"Is that a no?"
"That is not it. The last time you gave me that offer, I declined it and I regret that decision to this day. Considering everything that had happened. The Civil War with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the arrival of the Spider-Friends, the war against Thanos, you know."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It does not. I was only rambling."
"But what do you think?"
"I declined last time you gave me that offer. I cannot do that again."
"That meaning?"
"Yes. I will travel with you. I would be honored to travel with you as a companion."
"I will be pleased to have you travel with us."
"We'd like to go with you as well," Duncan spoke up, "at least, for this one time."
"What's going on?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm having suspicions with one of your friends," Duncan explained, "the male of your group that is. He is acting weird after going off on his own back at the Fall Festival. I wouldn't be asking this if I didn't think something was going on."
"What do you think is going on exactly?" Natasha asked.
"Something sinister of the supernatural kind," Duncan answered, "and it is something I think you might need help with."