Song: Steins;Gate VN insert song - Technovision by Kanako Itou
...It all happened so fast.
One moment, she was talking to Kuroko on the phone. Next moment...
"We need to leave, now!"
A sense of urgency echoed in this foreign stranger's voice. His expression, once positive and energetic, had turned serious, reminding her of some of the adults within Anti-Skill, who relayed orders.
Misaka felt her arm getting grabbed by the Doctor, and the other arm grabbed Saten as they both dashed off to the back of the building. They ran, and ran, and never look back as they passed through several road which led to an empty alleyway.
"Hey!" Misaka tried to call out to the Doctor. "Wha-What's going on?"
"Explanations for later!" The man said with a hurried yet concerned tone. "After we turn over to this alleyway."
And so they did. It was a bit tight, but it had more than enough space. The Doctor let's go of them both as he walks a few meters.
"Come on, come on, old girl," Some type of probe, one that the Doctor was holding, was making a whirling and beeping sound. "Oh, great," The Doctor's voice was exasperated and worried. "I can't summon the TARDIS here, it's still healing itself from the transtemporal storm," The Doctor looks at Saten with an apologetic expression.
"Doctor," Saten spoke with an anxious tone, walking towards the Doctor. "What's going on here?"
"I'm not entirely sure," The Doctor shares her sentiments, based on his voice. "Someone clearly wants me dead though, that I could conjecture from that advanced plasma burst that could have disintegrated both of us into ashes if I hadn't shielded us with my sonic screwdriver."
A sonic screwdriver? Misaka thought, with an inward-raised eyebrow.
But then...
"Look behind you!"
The Doctor exclaims as he points in the direction where Misaka is now looking. A dark blue armored vehicle with familiar white stripes would stop just near them. Opening the front doors, there were two men wearing SWAT combat uniforms and carrying submachine guns as they, and a few officers in the back, would get out of the truck.
...And they were all aiming their weapons at them.
"...The heck?!" Misaka made a shocked expression.
What... What was going on here?! And... Misaka would glance at their armbands. Anti-Skill?! (*1) But why?!
"There's no escape, Time Lord, we have you and your companions surrounded," One of the officers from the center smirked as he clocked his rifle. "You could try to run anywhere, but I wouldn't recommend it, for we have set up checkpoints all over the area, and thus, you and your human meatbags are right where we want you."
"...Oh really now," Misaka would glance at the man, whose eyes were narrowing seriously. "And you know who I am," He said while placing his hand towards Saten's position in a protective gesture. "And you know what I am. I take it you lot are also not from around here?"
"By the order of our commander," The officer speaking from the center spoke while aiming his rifle. "We have orders to kill the Great Destruction of the Universe."
The heck?! Misaka looked bewildered, looking back and forth between the Doctor and the officers who had clearly gone mad.
"The hell are you people are-"
"Stay out of this girl," The officer barked as he cut her off. "Lesser beings have no place in our current conversation."
That statement managed to pissed her off.
Lesser being?
"Huh, lesser beings eh?" Misaka looked at the Doctor, who had a look of epiphany. "...Now I know I'm definitely speaking to something a little more out of the norm. Who exactly are you lot?"
"Surely you recognized the race that you Gallifreyans (*2) had hunted to extinction," The officer sneered, as if threatening to bite like a predatorial dog.
"My people had hunted many races to extinction from time immemorial, most of which for good and bad reasons," The Doctor muttered softly, his tone now being careful and had a sense of weight to it. "Which are you?"
"...Well," Officer smiled troubly. "If you must know, you will bear witness to your own death... at the hands of the Krullish Empire."
"What?!"
Misaka could see the expression of shock and disbelief in the man's face.
"Doctor?" Saten asks, looking concerned.
"The Krulls..." The Doctor softly muttered.
Does this old man know who these people are? Misaka's suspicions were coming back a bit. Now, she may have given this man the benefit of the doubt, but it seems that she would need to question the man further... at least till after they managed to find a way out of this mess.
...What to do? She thought while scanning the area for anything she could use. Their rifles could do the trick. With a snap of her fingers, she would try to dismantle their weapons with her electricity, which flowed from her finger, whose snap sent the little streams of bolts dancing violently inside the guns, setting them to explode and knock the officers out.
"KAAAH!"
Some would crash to the ground and a few others would crash to the side of the armored truck. Pure bluish smoke would emit from the destroyed weapons that covered the area.
"...We should leave, now!" The Doctor spoke with urgency.
"Oh no!" Misaka spoke with a serious expression. "We're not leaving until you tell me what's going on here, Hakase." She said with her right index finger raised.
She had lots of questions that needed answering.
"Listen to me," The Doctor's eyes were not letting up, with an anxious and grave tone. "Those officers that you knocked off, they aren't human, not even close. A simple electric shock won't do good against them, you'll just make them..."
"...Rrrrrrgaaaahhh!"
"...Angry." The Doctor grimaced.
"Eh?"
Turning around...
Misaka... didn't know what she was actually seeing...
She was looking at... something shivering. A grotesque set of appendages and poking crimson skeletal protrusions and human skulls found and etched unto their elbows and sticking into their torsos, and large sharp teeth, with a front mouth and a stomach mouth. They looked like monstrous cyclopes that shed their fleshy skin and armor, with five red eyes on their sushi-like faces. And they all seem to be towering her, their shadows engulfing her middle school figure.
"...What the," Misaka muttered softly as she instinctively drew back and into a battle stance.
"You'll pay dearly for that, monkey!" The officer... turned monstrous creature, with a red glowing eye, would speak with a gnashing vengeance. "KAAH!"
A flash of light blinded them, raising their arms and other appendages.
"Girls, we need to go, now!"
As if on cue, the Doctor began to take Misaka's arm and would, along with Saten, ran for their lives. By the time the creatures came too, they would see that their prey had gone missing.
"Grraaah! Find them! I want that Time Lord and his human pets cooked like fried chicken!" The monstrous creature roared while slowly disguising itself back into its officer humanoid form.
In times like these, a garbage dump was more than useful... despite the unbearable stench. Better to smell like rubbish instead of getting ripped apart and eaten, and... whatever happens next. And it was also a good thing that the Doctor had listened to all of those children's bedtime stories back when he was young, and eventually read up on them at some point. Those were very earlier, early days for him.
The Krullian Empire...
They were a horror story and a legend in the Dark Times, used to scare a few Gallifreyan children at night. An interstellar empire of cannibals that had an unnatural craving for the flesh of younger races, which of course included humans. Their level of cruelty was such that it even rivaled and horrified the Racnoss. Every planet they conquer, the inhabitants would all be devoured by them as their next meal in the long line of their food chain. Hence why the Time Lords decided to eradicated them from the face of the universe during the chaotic period of the Time Wars.
What in the name of sanity are they doing in this universe? He thought grimly. And I shudder to think of what their currently plans are for this world. Hopefully I'd only be dealing with remnants and survivors instead of a fully-fledged cannibalistic empire. I mean, I got lucky at least with the Racnoss in that regard. (*3)
"Umm, Doctor."
His eyes, softening, would look at the two, sighing and scared to their wits, women that he unintentionally dragged into his own business. Ruiko Saten and Mikoto Misaka. Now, the Doctor wouldn't have to worry too much about Misaka, as he knows that the girl can fend for herself just fine. In fact, her powers would definitely be useful in combatting these cannibalistic abominations. The only reason those creatures aren't fried shish kabob right now.
No, he was worried more for Ruiko.
"Ruiko-chan... I'm sorry," The Doctor muttered softly, sighing as he held his sonic to provide a bit of light towards their darkened corner.
"...What the hell were those things?" Misaka looked bewildered and shook. Not that the Doctor can blame her. The Krulls tend to... look very unpleasant, physical stats-wise.
The Doctor sighed. "Monsters. That's the simple version. Long version... well, it's a very long story, one that relates to... well, not me personally, but for my people as a whole."
"Your people?" Saten asks, looking interested despite looking a bit chilled from the recent monstrous encounter.
"...My people, what those things back there called the Gallifreyans, or to be more specific, the Time Lords of Gallifrey, my people..." The Doctor sighed as he leaned at the dark surface green wall while making sure that the light stayed on"...Well, to try to tell a long story short, I'm not human."
"Haah?" Misaka looked bewildered. "What are you-"
"Misaka-san," Saten spoke, making Misaka turn to the former questioningly. "He's telling the truth. He's... He's not exactly from around here."
"...And considering the circumstances," The Doctor spoke gravely, making the two turn to him. "You two would need to know exactly what we're currently up against. You see... in the universe that I came from, there was a long, bygone era called the Dark Times (*4). It's essentially the trillennia before the millennia, the era where creeping things born out of the endless night watch as the first stars of the universe got switched on like lights on a ceiling. But the stars themselves... they were very different from what you lot may have understood about them. They were alive, those stars, living beings with sparks of light and wonder, that shone throughout the universe, lightening up the paths where the earliest lifeforms, gods and civilizations thrive."
"...And in this era, there was a terrible race called the Krulls, they were... a very savage and cruel race, bent on conquering entire worlds and galaxies, craving for the flesh of mortals and younger races."
"...So, they're cannibals?" Saten looked disgusted. Misaka also looked a bit disgusted.
"More or less," The Doctor softly affirmed, grimacing. "Though... they tend to be... more than that. You see, when they conquer a planet, they... they don't just eat people, they... they do things to them, things that I... I can't say too much... they... torture them... in various ways... while eating them. They have this... nasty tendency to eat their prey while that prey is still alive, wanting to feel its screams before they consume them whole. They could control their sadistic tendencies of course when needed. Before their rise to power, they were usually just confined to the fringes of the outer reaches of the universe, and seem more than content to live there. However... one terrible Queen rose to prominence and decided to take their rule beyond their domain. And with that, came innocent blood overflowing... and haunting screams that can be heard in several galaxies... and legend says... they could still be heard to this very day."
The two women were drawn into the story, with both a mystified horror and vehement disgust.
"...Then at some point, they took part in what was basically known as the Time Wars (*5), a series of temporal conflicts that fully determined the fate of my universe and for the purpose of complete eradication for monstrous evils. They weren't really much of a big shot though. Once they tried their luck, the Time Lords, under the leadership of our first Lord President Rassilon, came in and crushed the lot of them. You see, these creatures have found a way to harness specific esoteric energies called Mortium, which is an element born from the dying stars of red holes that could be used for advanced time travel. Naturally, the Time Lords weren't eager for a race of time travelling cannibals to get what they want, so they killed them off, every last one of them."
The Doctor side glances grimly. "...Or so I thought. Though this is nothing new," He sported a look of reassurance and consolation for the attentive teens. "I've faced creatures and myths from the Dark Times before. In the end, they all fell... because I ended them."
A cool silence reigned. Two hesitant glances looked at one another, not knowing what to say.
"...I need to find out just what they're doing here," The Doctor muttered, thinking a bit. "If they're here, then... they'd probably do to this world in the same way they did with the other worlds. Question is... why haven't they done it now? What's stopping them?"
"What do you mean?" Saten was the first to speak, if a bit trembling.
"I mean... if they were here to begin with, then your world would have been long dead by the time I got here. Once they are here, they go for the direct kill, target the governments, target the militaries, and well, have fun with the civilians." His tone was of clear disgust... and slight wrath leaking in. "The fact that they aren't doing that now... leads me to believe in two things. Either they can't do that because they are a mere remnant of what they used to be or..."
The Doctor gravely stated his hypothesis. "...I've got the feeling that they can't just roll over this world without consequence. Normally, when it comes to that, this planet may be heavily fortified in a way that I may not know about. Perhaps... talented individuals, espers? You lot specifically."
"Us?" Misaka finally spoke, with a questioning tone.
"You lot and your, quote on quote, superpowers," The Doctor would raise both his index and ring fingers, and giving a twofold gesture. "From what I understood at least, there are 7 Level 5s in Academy City, the cream of the crop, and you're one of them, Misaka-san. You, and mayhaps any other Level 5, especially the lot of you, are essentially a walking direct counter to the Krulls. With the powers of electromagenitism on your side, you can essentially fry their weapons, fry their ships, fry... everything. You could summon lightning from the skies and turn their own powers against them, rendering them no different than a would be mortal. Unlike my people and a few other higher races, they don't really have an in-built defense for that kind of thing. Ironically, might makes right is the way things go when dealing with them."
"So these things aren't invading the planet in full force because of Misaka-san and the Level 5s?" Saten asks, with concern.
"Possibly," The Doctor nodded. But the Doctor silently added in thought. Though... it could just mean that there are other powers that govern this world that may even scare the Krulls themselves and keep them in line. Now what could do that, I wonder...?
"...Okay, so... I got all of that," Misaka grimaced, glancing a bit. "But..."
"Hard to believe that I'm an alien from another universe, or harder to believe that what you actually saw was an alien from the dawn of time itself?,"The Doctor anticipated just what the chestnut electromaster had to ask.
"...It's just... I don't know what to think... but..." Misaka looked serious. "You do know how to stop these things, right?"
"Of course I do," The Doctor nodded.
"Then that's that," Misaka simply left things be.
"Just like that?" The Doctor questioned, looking a bit doubtful for leaving things like this.
"Whether or not I believe that you are an alien doesn't really matter right now, does it?" Misaka asks with arms crossed. "So long as we stop whatever these... things are up too. If they are as bad as you say, I'd like to do something about it. And... I noticed that these things are disguised as Anti-Skill officers."
"Anti-Skill," The Doctor noted. "From what I know, they are one of two law enforcement organizations in this city. Now... what would the Krulls be doing there? And how long have they've been there?"
"...Actually," Misaka looked thoughtful. "I and Saten-san would know somebody who could maybe help. She's... well, a teacher who had also been a member of Anti-Skill, though..."
"If it's proof that's the problem, then I wouldn't worry," The Doctor anticipated the dilemma as he raised his screwdriver. "My good old sonic here could do much of the talking for us. Has memory banks and all that I could access directly into my head." He taps his head with his other free hand to the side.
Misaka and Saten both looked at each other, still with anxious expressions, before they looked back at the Doctor.
"Alright then, all that's left is to go and tell her then," Misaka nodded.
"Not so fast though," The Doctor cautioned. "Considering that the Krulls have infiltrated Anti-Skill, who do you think you can trust in that police force? For all you know, the entire organization could have been compromised, or if not, the human members of that organization could be at risk if we just go tell any Anti-Skill officer, and someone among the Krull infiltrators could be watching or listening."
"...Oh, right," Misaka grimaced. "Then what do you suggest we do? Tell Judgment instead?"
"That's the only other alternative solution before we implement the first one," The Doctor nodded. "Though it would have to be a Level 4 Esper, just to be sure in case we may need to defend ourselves from a scuffle."
"Level 4..." Saten became thoughtful. "Ah, what about Shirai-san?" She looks at Misaka.
"Actually... yeah, Kuroko could be a big help," Misaka nodded before looking at the Doctor. "You don't mind if we contact our friend?"
"I take it this... Shirai-san is a member of Judgment?" The Doctor asks.
"Hmm," Misaka nodded. "She can be a bit of a pain in my back sometimes, but she is quite reliable in situations like this."
"Alright, I trust your judgment on this matter," The Doctor nodded.
While he looked at the brown-haired girl drawing her phone, the Doctor was deep in thought.
Hmm. I really hope it's just the Krulls that are the only problem in this world. Because if I'm right... there's probably more to this world than meets the eye, and the Krullian Empire probably recognized it. Perhaps its the abundance of espers that are all concentrated into one big city. For some reason, it's both ingenius... as well as terrifying. The type of person who could make this a living reality would have to be someone who would really like to get things going. For what, I don't know, but I intend to find out why...
...And maybe.
The Doctor looked at Saten, whose anxious attention was directed at Misaka who was now calling their friend.
...Perhaps I'll solve one of the riddles. On what kind of dilemma does Saten Ruiko have with a city like this. A city that seems to have everything.. and a little too much of everything.
Trivia For Chapter:
(*1) - From Toaru Wiki - Anti-Skill (警備員アンチスキル Keibi-in (Anchi Sukiru)?, lit. "Guard") is the term used to refer to Academy City's police and security forces.[1] Unlike Judgment, members of Anti-Skill are ordinary adults who work in the city. One is essentially a volunteer when they join Anti-Skill. As such is not paid to do Anti-Skill work: However, the city compensates for Anti-Skill members' help in the experiment by giving them various gifts and privileges.[2]
(*2) - From TARDIS Wiki - The Time Lords, (TV: The War Games [+]) also known by many other names, were inhabitants of the planet Gallifrey, most famous for the creation and attempted monopolisation of time travel technology. (COMIC: Time Bomb! [+], TV: The Time Warrior [+], PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus [+] et al.) They created and upheld the Laws of Time (TV: The Three Doctors [+], Attack of the Cybermen [+]) after establishing the Web of Time to keep the universe "rational". (TV: Once, Upon Time [+], PROSE: So Vile a Sin [+], The Book of the War [+], et al.)
Time Lords were sensitive to timelines, being able to see "all that is, all that was, all that ever could be," (TV: The Parting of the Ways [+]) but also "what must not [be]". (TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]) They had an instinctive urge to stay away from events that would always happen. (TV: The Waters of Mars [+]) They were seen as immortal, or nearly so, (TV: The War Games [+], Last of the Time Lords [+]) partially due to their ability to regenerate. (TV: Planet of the Spiders [+]) They had a great place in the mythologies and cultures of other civilisations, being outright called "the Gods" by several species, including the Minyans (TV: Underworld [+], COMIC: Omega [+]) and the Gendar. (PROSE: Out of the Box [+])
The ancient Time Lords were known to take part in battles and conflicts, often helping to hunt species known to be dangerous. One of the last of these was a war against the Great Vampires, which was so long and bloody that they turned against violence in general. (TV: State of Decay [+]) For at least part of their history, the Time Lords adhered to a strict policy of non-interference. (TV: The War Games [+]) Despite their attempts to keep up an appearance of being uninterested in the affairs of others, they still sent discreet missions where other Time Lords would act on their behalf. (TV: Colony in Space [+], The Two Doctors [+], Genesis of the Daleks [+], et al.) On one occasion, the Fourth Doctor was instructed to intercept the creation of the Dalek race, (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]) a step which eventually led to a devestating war between the two species. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone [+], et al.)
By the time of the Sixth Doctor, the Time Lords had reigned in "absolute power" for ten million years. (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+], PROSE: The Book of the War [+]) During the final day of the Time War, it was claimed the history of the Time Lords spanned "a billion years". (TV: The End of Time [+])
(*3) - The Doctor was referencing the events of The Runaway Bride (TV story)
(*4) - From TARDIS Wiki - The Dark Times, (PROSE: The Five Doctors, The Pit; TV: The Runaway Bride, The Infinite Quest) Dark Days, (TV: The Five Doctors) Dark Ages, (AUDIO: Call Me Ishmael) or simply the Dark Time, (PROSE: The Eight Doctors, Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible; TV: The Infinite Quest) also poetically referred to as the time before time (PROSE: Cobweb and Ivory) or "'time before this", (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) described as eldritch times by H. P. Lovecraft, (AUDIO: Guardian At The Gate) and termed literal "'Pre-History" by The Book of the War, (PROSE: The Book of the War) were a time of chaos and monsters that predated the Doctor's reality, (TV: The Infinite Quest) The universe during this period was sometimes known as the Protoverse (PROSE: Contributors) or the early universe. (PROSE: The Book of the War, Dalek Combat Training Manual)
Remembered by the Tenth Doctor as "the millennia that came creeping out of the endless night as the first stars switched on in the universe", (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) they were a time of chaos which not only predated Time Lord history, but was also "before there was any such thing as history", and where the laws of time and reality of the later universe did not apply. (AUDIO: The Enemy of My Enemy) The terminology was fluid across accounts, however, and some equated the "Time before this" with the "Old Time" but not the "Dark Times". (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet, The Quantum Archangel, Weapons Grade Snake Oil) Some accounts defined "the Dark Time" as being an era localized to Gallifrey in which darkness grew in Gallifreyan society, but as having occurred within "the Old Time", specifically towards its tail end. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) Other sources still indicated the Dark and Old Times were distinct eras of Gallifreyan history. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
In terms of universal history, the Dark Times were billions of years before the 21st century (TV: The Runaway Bride) and in part aeons before the rise of Gallifreyan civilisation. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) The Dark Times were a prehistoric period in Gallifreyan history. (PROSE: Introduction) Rassilon created the Time scoop in the Dark Times, (PROSE: The Five Doctors, The Eight Doctors) and his rise to power and foundation of Time Lord civilisation ended the Dark Times. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, A Brief History of Time Lords)
The anchoring of the thread and Time Wars eradicated the monstrous creatures of the era and created the Web of Time, (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors, So Vile a Sin, et al, TV: Once, Upon Time) with the Dark Times being locked off from time travel through its temporal exclusion zone. (PROSE: Dalek Combat Training Manual) After this, it was believed Time Lords were unable to time travel to the Dark Times, (PROSE: No Future, Goth Opera) but multiple incarnations of the Doctor would do just that. (COMIC: Old Girl; PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)
(*5) - From TARDIS Wiki - the Time Wars were an ancient era of Gallifreyan history marked by numerous conflicts wherein the Time Lords ensured their supremacy, eradicating all other lifeforms with the potential for time travel. (PROSE: Sky Pirates!, The Gallifrey Chronicles, Heart of TARDIS) The Time Wars lasted for 30,000 years on 1000 planets, becoming a "nightmare of contradiction, paradox, and death." (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors) Campaigns of the Time Wars period included the Black Sun War, (COMIC: 4-D War, PROSE: Heart of TARDIS) the Eternal War, and the Racnoss Wars. (PROSE: River of Time, et al.) Ultimately, the Time Wars ended in Time Lord victory. These conflicts helped to lay the foundations for the rationalistic universe of the Doctor's era, (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors) as part of what would later be known as the anchoring of the thread. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors, Christmas on a Rational Planet, The Book of the War)