"I don't want to go."
That had been the last thing to come out of the Doctor's mouth before an explosion of golden energy burst out of his hands and head, enveloping his skin and slowly changing what he looked like. Regeneration, it was an ability all Time Lords had, a way that they could cheat death and change their form to look like someone completely different. He had almost regenerated from his previous form before, but he had a vessel with his cells to shift the process into once his wounds had healed to avoid the change. Now, however, he had no choice.
But something was wrong.
The force of the energy was too great. The TARDIS groaned and shook as the energy that spilt out of him singed and damaged the main console room. The coral pillars crumbled and collapsed, the console itself sparked and smoke arose from areas on it that had caught fire. The TARDIS was thrown off course. Now, rather than hover above the Earth's atmosphere, it spun out of control and into a wormhole – a gap in time and space – and into the Void.
The Doctor was very confused. VERY confused.
He had held his regeneration back for too long, but he had to so he could say "goodbye" to his old companions, people he loved, during that lifetime. The next thing he knew, the burst of regeneration energy had caused the TARDIS to fall apart and spin out of control. And then he woke up here, in this new body that wasn't even remotely human in terms of looks. The TARDIS had ejected him and closed its doors, tossing him out as if he had insulted it on a personal level. And this place- Well, he wasn't even sure where or when he was. The first thing he noticed was the air tasted like Earth's, yet it was different. Almost like when he had gone to Pete's World.
The second thing he noticed was the state of his body. While he wasn't human, Time Lords had outward appearances that tended to match them. Now, though, he looked like something akin to an anthropomorphic rabbit. Still not ginger according to his reflection in a nearby puddle, much to his dismay. Rather, his fur and hair were brown and a yellow-ish pigment.
The third thing he noticed was that the TARDIS had dropped him into what seemed to be a robot graveyard- at least that is what he assumed it was. There were scraps of metal and robots that looked like a mix of animals and bugs all strewn about the grassy field. Most of them looked like they had been bashed in. But by what? His question was answered shortly after he had thought it up.
A larger robot, one that looked like a blue, two-legged creature with red feet and eyes was charging at him, accelerating due to the engine on the back of its torso.
Surprised and still gaining his bearings, he stumbled backwards onto the ground. He was sure the blue robot would attack him as it stretched out its hand, revealing claw-like fingers, when suddenly an abnormally sized mallet stopped it in its tracks, sending it back a few feet.
The owner and his savior glared at the robot. It was a pink creature similar to his own, but he couldn't pinpoint what kind of animal she could be. She had on a red dress, so he assumed she was a she anyway. "Oh no, Metal, your fight is with me!" She roared out with a ferocity that reminded him of the likes of Donna when her buttons were pushed, usually by him unintentionally- and was that fox flying with his butt?
"Amy, hold on! Maybe we should wait for Sonic." The fox began. He sounded like he was a child, though the Doctor couldn't pinpoint his or the girl's ages. Definitely American accents- wait, did America exist here? He's never come across their species before. Oh, how he loved to come across something new, and for once that something wasn't trying to kill him right away.
"Why?! So he can just run off and miss our date again!? Beating up Metal Sonic will be so cathartic!"
"He's fighting Eggman, he probably didn't mean to miss-"
"He's the fastest thing alive! He could've let me know rather than standing me up!"
The fox sighed, giving up at convincing his friend to stop, and turned toward the Doctor. "Are you ok? Your clothes look pretty beat up. Did Metal do this?"
"Uh, no, no. These are from before I got here." The Doctor said, finding his voice. "Tell me, where am I, what are you- we, and what is going on?"
"Mister, did you hit your head or something?"
He did remember hitting his head when the TARDIS threw him out. "You could say that."
The fox looked confused, landing on the ground, the Doctor could see that his butt-propeller was actually two tails. He helped him up and said, "We're Mobians, this is Mobius, and well…" He looked sheepishly at the pink Mobian who was now fighting Metal Sonic, swinging her hammer around ferociously, taking her anger for Sonic out on what he assumed was his robot double. "Let's just say Amy's hobby when she gets like this is to fight Badniks."
Amy was relentless. All of the anger and frustration she had went into her next swing, sending Metal Sonic flying through the air until he had vanished beyond the horizon.
She didn't hate Sonic, she never could. But sometimes he really could make her upset, even if it wasn't necessarily his fault. It wasn't even a stereotypical date; they were supposed to help Cream and Cheese pick flowers for Cream's flower crowns, but Sonic hadn't shown up. Amy had decided to go on ahead and help the young rabbit and chao, figuring Sonic would show up, Gemrel coming along too. Then Tails had shown up and told them about Eggman's attack.
Amy figured Sonic was probably already fighting, but it still hurt that he couldn't have even come to tell them himself. So she decided to go with Tails, leaving Cream and Cheese in Gemrel's care. They had been fighting off hordes of Eggman's robots, freeing the local animals as they went, when they had spotted Metal Sonic rushing toward someone.
Getting a good look at him now that things had settled for the moment, Amy wasn't exactly impressed. His clothes were a torn light blue button-down and brown stripped pants that were singed at the ends. He did seem to be unharmed, though, if anything he just seemed confused and rattled.
"Are you sure you're ok? You're out pretty far from any of the nearby towns." Amy said, walking over.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm just someone passing through." The rabbit said, curtly. Amy guessed by his accent that maybe he was from around Spagonia or maybe any of the areas in the same continent.
As the rabbit began to walk away, Amy frowned. "How rude! We saved you from getting mauled by Metal and you don't even thank us?"
"I would've found a way out of that… maybe. Usually always think of something under pressure." The rabbit said, but turned to face them. "But still, thanks, er…"
"I'm Amy Rose."
"My name is Miles Prower, but everyone calls me 'Tails'." Tails smiled.
"What should we call you?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor what?" Tails asked.
"Just the Doctor."
Amy frowned, crossing her arms, "That's not a name."
"Neither is Sonic. Who is that, anyway, you said he's the fastest thing alive?"
"Sonic is the fastest thing alive. He's very brave and kind and handsome-"
"Weren't you just upset with him?"
"I could never stay upset when it comes to him."
"Sorry, she has a huge crush on him." Tails chuckled. "He's a friend of ours."
"And you said he was fighting someone?"
"Doctor Eggman. He's kinda like… Sonic's arch nemesis." Tails explained, trying to find the right words. "We've been fighting against him for quite a few years now. His main goal is to take over Mobius with the end-goal ranging between industrializing the whole planet to turning it into a theme park named after himself; it kinda just depends on his mood."
The Doctor assumed Mobius was the name of the planet.
"And he does so by using wild animals to power most of his machines. So, since he's up to his old tricks, we're doing all we can to stop him." Amy said, suddenly finding a new thing to be angry about, and the Doctor didn't blame her on this one. He'd had run-ins with mad men and women who would use normally defenseless beings as a means to an end, not caring for the fact that their 'tools' were beings who deserved their own right to live as they pleased.
Oh well, he had time to spare until the TARDIS cooled down and decided to let him back in.
"All right then, let's stop him, shall we?"
"Huh?" Tails's eyes widened. "Hold on, it's dangerous. You could get hurt!"
"So could you and you're a child."
"But we've been doing this for years now."
"And I've been encountering creatures and threats you could probably only imagine for much, much longer."
"But-"
"Just let him come, Tails." Amy said. "Besides, we could always use an extra set of eyes."
It had taken a while, but the trio eventually managed to find the "Boss Badnik". Amy kept it busy while the Doctor and Tails worked on shutting the machine down. Together, they managed to defeat it and free the poor bird – a flickie Amy had called it – that was powering it.
Along the way, the Doctor had somehow managed to convince the two that he wasn't normally a creature that could pass as Buggs Bunny's cousin, and while they were able to confirm that humans did in fact reside on Mobius, he was left puzzled on why his appearance didn't resemble them outwards in the slightest. Perhaps, he theorized, regenerating in the Void forced his appearance to take on characteristics akin to Mobians. Anything could happen, and the Void was a different type of territory to what he was used to dealing with. One thing was for sure: he still had two hearts and he wasn't too fond of the fact his kidney decided to change to a blue hue.
He also learned just what the two Mobian children could do. Amy was athletic, able to jump around and make great leaps with little problem. She could summon a giant mallet she called her "Piko Piko Hammer", and she could summon as many as she could carry. From where? Well, she wasn't sure. They just appeared when she needed them to, that was all that really mattered to her. Tails meanwhile could curl up into a ball to attack, describing it as a "spin dash" and, as the Doctor had witnessed, the young fox could use his twin tails to fly as if they were the blades of a helicopter (the Doctor had to remember to ask him how he does that without breaking any bones). He also seemed to be smart enough to rival his own mind. The two had met through this Sonic fellow, a blue hedgehog that Amy seemed to be enamored with despite her earlier anger towards him, and who Tails said was his best friend and older brother.
Once they beat the boss, Amy insisted that she and Tails take the Doctor shopping to get clothes that weren't falling apart. He settled for a white button shirt, a brown vest, khaki pants, and a blue tie that Amy remarked matched his eyes.
Amy herself seemed to be enjoying this. According to Tails, it wasn't often she got to drag one of their guy friends out on a clothes-based shopping trip. Male presenting Mobians seemed to favor limited amounts of clothing like gloves or shoes, almost as if clothing were accessories. He couldn't blame them, from what he could tell and based on his own appearance, Mobians were primarily covered with fur, feathers, or scales. Clothes would probably get in the way depending on the species or become unbearably hot in the right temperature. Still though, he was used to wearing clothes, especially out in public, so he chose to amuse Amy by letting her pick out other outfits for him.
"Everything ok, Doctor?" Tails asked, noticing he was silent as they watched Amy go through different racks and shelves.
"Oh! Yes, I guess I'm just not used to clothes being optional, like accessories. They were always required on my world and many of those I've visited."
"Hmm… Ok!" Tails said, getting an idea. He grabbed a scarf and put it on. "Is this better?" he asked.
"Uh… Yeah." The doctor said, then thought to himself, 'Well, it's the thought that counts.' In truth, he wasn't bothered by it in the first place. Different alien species usually didn't wear clothing. Heck, there was a whole space church where you were required to attend naked. But as for himself, he decided to stick with what he was comfortable with.
You would think that they would have been surprised when the Doctor revealed his TARDIS allowed him to travel throughout not just space but also time, but apparently, they weren't foreign concepts to Tails and Amy. While not as advanced, mobians and humans on this world seemed to have a basic grasp of it and have even come into contact with a variety of alien or other-worldly beings before. That's not even counting the fact he wasn't the first time traveler to meet them.
"So, this Silver fellow occasionally travels to the past to…"
"Warn us of something that'll change his time period for the worst." Tails said.
"He's the only one that notices the changes because…"
"We don't know, but we think it's because he did it once before."
"Hmm… perhaps time traveling once caused him to absorb some type of atron energy- er, energy that exists in the time vortex, sort of pathways between time periods. That energy is probably what allows him to exist outside the flow of time when his future changes between potential outcomes, not too unlike what happens to myself or those that travel with me. And he does this how?" The Doctor said, his mind buzzing with theories.
"Sometimes it's the combination of his psychokinesis and artifacts known as the Time Stones. Apparently, in his future, one existing outside of Little Planet was discovered and it's what he uses to travel through time, though it does need to recharge since it's being used alone. Though there have been instances where a friend of ours has used the Chaos Emeralds to manipulate time."
Interesting. The Doctor guessed the Chaos Emeralds were another artifact for this world. Oh! Sometimes he hated not knowing things, usually because they were trying to kill him or someone else. But when they weren't and he had the opportunity to learn? He might as well be a child in a candy store getting told to pick whatever they wanted.
"So, your box-thingy can do the same thing?" Amy asked, lightly tapping her knuckle on the TARDIS's side.
If there was anything the Doctor loved more than learning, it was getting the chance to do the explaining!
"That and so, so much more!" he smiled. "In fact, as thanks for the new clothes, information, and assistance in not getting killed by that robot- what did you call him? Metal Sonic? How about I give you two the opportunity to go anywhere, or any-when, you want?"
"In this thing? Will we even fit?" Amy raised an eyebrow.
The Doctor unlocked the door, hoping that the TARDIS wouldn't reject him and toss him as it did when they first arrived in this world, and held it open so the two could go in. He followed behind and noticed the interiors of the TARDIS had changed. Gone were the rough, rigid controls, coral pillars, and orange lighting. What replaced them were white walls with round lights, a clean platform for the control panel that suspended them above the control room wired the Doctor was sure would make maintenance much less cramped, and this was all enveloped in a soft blue light emitting from the center column above the control panel.
Tails and Amy, meanwhile, stared in awe.
"It's bigger on the inside!" Amy gasped.
"Transcendental dimensions…" Tails's eyes seemed to widen more than they possibly could before a huge smile of excitement formed on his muzzle. "This is the coolest, most beautiful machine I've ever seen!"
"She is impressive, isn't she?" The Doctor smiled, walking past them toward the control panel. "Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS for short." He turned toward them. "So, all of time and space- and a new dimension for me. Where do you two want to go first?"
A/N: Well, guess who's back with another crossover fanfic? Me. I got into Doctor Who during my time sick for well over a month (don't ask) and trying to apply to school for my master's degree. I don't know how long this will be but I have a layout planned. We'll be getting the usual Doctor Who adventures, but I also plan to implement a lot of Sonic's world into it. I'll be pulling things from the various games, comics, tv shows, and movies, and yes this will include characters and storylines. As for Doctor Who, this obviously takes place just after the Tenth Doctor regenerates, but he obviously isn't Eleven. I wanted to try to make a version that's sort of a mix of David Tennant and Matt Smith's Doctors but is still his own character if that makes sense as the two ae among my favorite incarnations (and I started brainstorming for this AU just after finishing Matt Smith's first season). I will also be posting doodles, comics, and character designs on my DeviantArt ( Piplup88908). I will still be working on the Harry Potter x Hetalia crossover too, don't worry, I won't be dropping it. But I wanted to try something different even though I have very little time these days.
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