The Power of the Doctor
Over the next couple of years, Annabelle and I would get updates from The Doctor about her travels plus from time to time we would both work with UNIT on different things. So, we weren't too surprised to be summoned to UNIT HQ by Kate. We walked in the building and saw Kate, "Nice place you got here," I said.
"Thank you," said Kate.
"So, what brings us here?" asked Annabelle.
"We are just waiting for The Doctor…"
Then, as if on cue we here the familiar sound of the TARDIS materializing. I smiled when The Doctor walked out with Yaz close behind her. The Doctor smiled when she saw us. "Teddy! Annabelle!" she said as she came up to us for a hug. "Long time no see."
"Too long if you ask me," I said. Then I looked, over at Kate, "So, what's the cause for bringing us together for a family reunion?"
"Follow me," she said.
We followed her up a spiral staircase, and The Doctor said, "Nice new building.
"Thank you," said Kate as we reached the next floor, " Now, a dozen of the world's leading seismologists have gone missing in the past two week. Plus 15 of the world's most valuable paintings have disappeared from view."
"That's what you called us here for?" asked The Doctor, "Have you any idea what's going on in outer space in 1916 right now?"
"Strangely enough, no," said Kate.
Annabelle and I looked at each other. Neither one of us knew what was happening in 1916, "What's happening in 1916?" I asked The Doctor.
But before she could answer Kate interrupted, "Oh, also new freelancers. Don't be cross."
We walked a room and there were two older women with their back to us, one with long brown hair and the other had short red hair. Then, the two women turned and looked at us. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and neither could The Doctor. The brown-haired woman was Ace a companion to The Seventh Doctor and the redhead was Tegan a companion to The Fifth Doctor. I recognized them from the file the TARDIS had on The Doctor's previous companions. "I believe you three know each other of old," said Kate, to The Doctor. Then, Kate pointed at me, "This is The Doctor's niece, Teddy Duncan." Then she pointed at Annabelle, "And this is Teddy's daughter, Annabelle Duncan."
"Oh, wow!" said Ace, as she looked at The Doctor.
"You said a woman," said Tegan, "You never said young."
"Tegan." said The Doctor, "Ace?"
"That is a good look on you, Professor," said Ace.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought them in," said Kate, "I'm rebuilding our intelligence networks with people who understand the problems Earth faces from personal experience. It seemed clear where to start."
"So... how have you been?" asked The Doctor, nervously.
"Like you care," shouted Tegan.
"Tegan, we discussed this," said Ace.
"Thirty-eight years!"
Then Yaz spoke up, ""I'm Yaz. The only one here who doesn't really know what's going on."
Tegan looked at Yaz, "We used to be you, decades back.
"Oh. I see. Wow."
There was an awkward silence everyone was just looking at each other trying to figure out what to say. I decided to break it. I looked at Kate and asked, "So, what was so urgent, Kate?
"This is why I brought you in," said Kate as we followed her over to a large screen "Let's start with the paintings." She took out a remote and started to cycle through pictures of some of Earth's most famous paintings, "Mona Lisa, The Scream, The Hay Wain, Girl with A Pearl Earring, The Last Supper. All of them and more taken out of public view because all of them, we've discovered, have been defaced. The face of Rasputin inserted into every painting."
"Oh no, that's not Rasputin," said The Doctor. "That's the Master."
"What?" said Ace, Tegan, Annabelle, and I all together.
Just then a clean-shaven Master popped up on the screen, "Greetings, seismology fans. If you're craving answers to life's little mysteries, my keynote address at the International Seismology Memorial Conference is now starting at a conference hall… Vaguely near you. Come feel the Earth move. Here's the pin. See you in a bit." The Master went away, and a map of the world popped up with a mark of where he was and coordinates.
"So that's The Master now?" asked Ace.
"1916, Rasputin, and the only person who would leave a Tardis that looked like mine," said The Doctor.
Yaz took out her phone and entered the coordinates of the pin, "Hotel. 3.2 kilometers from Mount Vesuvius.
"We've got a UNIT base near Naples. I'll get you local support," said Kate as she walked away.
The Doctor walked up to Ace and Tegan, "Sorry, dealing with multiple somethings. It's good to see you both." She touched Tegan's right shoulder and there was a large static shock,
"Ow! You gave me an electric shock," said Tegan.
"Sorry. My bad. I promise," then The Doctor looked Ace and said, "I'm coming back." She touched Ace's left shoulder, and she got a shock as well.
"Ow! Oh, you are really staticky," said Ace.
The Doctor gave them a quick scan with her sonic. Then, The Doctor looked at Annabelle and I , "I need you two to stay here… The Master is more unstable than usual…"
I nodded, "I understand."
"We'll be back. Come on, Yaz" Then, Yaz and The Doctor ran off to the TARDIS.
A short time later, Tegan, Ace, Annabelle, and I were standing on the spiral staircase watching as The Master was being marched in in handcuffs, "Put him in the bunker. Constant monitoring, full security detail," said Kate.
"Ooo, the bunker!" said The Master, "That sounds nice. I love a bunker. Anybody want to join me? Bunk-up in the bunker?" He looked back at Kate, "Your dad was an idiot." He turned and saw the four of us on the stairs, "Oh, Tegan Jovanka! How's your Auntie Vanessa? Do you keep her in a little doll's house?"
"I'm going to enjoy watching you locked up in a tiny cell," said Tegan.
"That's right, you tell me." He looked at Ace, "And Ace! Or should I say Dorothy? Didn't the Doctor ditch you? No? Little fallout with your Machiavellian maestro?"
"Last time I saw you, you were half cat," said Ace.
"A man's allowed to experiment," He looked at Annabelle, "Annabelle! Long time no see!" Then he looked at me, "And, that must be your mom. Looking good Teddy… It like its family reunion day at UNIT!"
"Take him away," said Kate.
"Yes, yes, take me away. You'll all feel safer then with me in the building," said The Master, as he was pulled into an elevator. He stepped back out and looked at The Doctor, "You're not staying, Doctor? You're not going to leave them alone, are you?" He was pulled back in the elevator, "While you go Dalek hunting? Whoo!" Then the doors of the elevator closed. '
Ace, Tegan, Annabelle, and I walked down the stars, and The Doctor looked at us said to us, "I need you four to stay here and monitor the Master. We won't be long."
"Professor where are you going?" asked Ace, as The Doctor and Yaz got in the TARDIS.
Tegon looked at Ace and said, "She really doesn't want us back in there."
The four of us went back upstairs and Annabelle said, "I'll get surveillance up on the Master's cell. We can take turns watching," she walked up to one of the computers.
"Whatever he's up to, he can't do much from a UNIT prison cell," said Ace, "I really thought I'd seen the last of him."
"Yeah," said Annabelle, "I know what you mean."
Tegan looked at me, "What did The Master mean when he said, 'It was like family reunion day at UNIT?'"
I sighed, "I'm not just The Doctor's niece… I'm The Master's niece too…
"What?" said Tegan and Ace.
"He married my birth mother's sister… Thankfully, I'm not related by blood to him."
"Ace?" said Tegan, "The toy."
We looked where Tegan was looking, and we saw her back on the floor and a few feet away was what looked like a tiny Cyberman toy.
"Oh!" we heard from behind us. We turned and saw the CCTV feed from the Master's cell. The Master was crouched down in the corner, and he said, "Didn't it want to stay inside your bag? Oh Tegan, do you really think the Doctor cared enough to send you even one meagre toy?"
"How's he doing that?" asked Tegan.
The Master stood up and started walking toward the camera, "The Doctor didn't send you that, I did, knowing what you would do with it." Then he got right up to the camera, "You'd keep it so close to you because you have nothing else. Do you know the great thing about tissue compression? It also works in reverse." We turned back toward the toy and watched it start to grow. The head of the Cyberman was half broken and we saw the face of a man underneath 'That ain't just any Cyberman. It's a Russian doll." The Cyberman split open and fully formed Cybermen started walking out. "Oh and say hello to my friend Ashad. I killed him once, but he's forgiven me now." A rusted Cyberman walked out that looked like the Cyberman toy. Then the Cyberman toy closed and shrunk back down
"Tegan!" Shouted Ace. I looked and saw that Ace had guns. Tegan tipped over a table and the four of us ducked behind it. Ace handed Tegan a gun and they both opened fire. "Gold bullets, tin-heads," said Ace, "Did you think UNIT wouldn't be ready?"
They shot at the Cybermen, but it didn't faze them, one of them shot at us and we ducked down "Why isn't it working?" asked Tegan.
"We long ago developed resistance to gold," said Ashad.
"Run!" the four of us said. We then got up and ran out of the room while the Cybermen opened fire on us.
We heard The Master on the screen, "Oh, run! Run! Oh, look at them."
We ran up the stairs to the next level as UNIT soldiers opened fire on the Cybermen. We heard Kate's voice over the PA, "All units, full combat protocols. UNIT is under attack. I repeat, UNIT is under attack from Cybermen."
We made it up near the top floor, Kate was taping on a computer, "We only just got here," said Tegan, "They're all over the lower floors!"
"I have to lock down the building. I can't risk them getting into the world. You four need to leave." Ace, Annabelle, and I nodded knowing what we had to do. We move to a couple of floor cubby holes and opened them.
"How?" asked Tegan
"We have these panels in every room," I said, as I opened one, "Automated landing parachutes."
Ace tossed Tegan one, "If you can't go down, you've got to go up. Off the roof?"
"You're kidding," said Tegan.
"I stashed some of my stuff in here earlier," said Ace as she took out the jacket she wore when she traveled with The Doctor, "Hope you don't mind."
Kate smiled, "Very 80's."
"Thanks. Come on, Tegan."
"I'll hold the lockdown till you're clear," said Kate.
Ace then took an aluminum baseball bat out of the cubby hole, and Teagan asked, "You carry that bat with you all the time?"
"Beyonce copied all my moves," said Ace as she swung it around, as she left.
"I like her," said Annabelle.
I smiled, "Me too…"
We made it to the roof Ace opened the door and said, "Out here!" We walked out and I looked and saw Tegan in the doorway, "What are you doing?" she asked, "We can do this."
"I brought them in... the Cybermen," said Tegan, "It's my mistake. You go find the Doctor. I need to help Kate."
Just then a metal door slammed down.
"Tegan!" said Ace.
I walked up to Ace, "Kate put the building on lockdown… We need to go…"
Ace nodded and we put on our parachutes. I climbed up on to the ledge, took a deep breath and stepped off. A few seconds later, I pulled the rip cord and he chute deployed. A minute or so later, I laned safely on the ground. I quickly removed my chute and looked up and saw Annabelle coming down. She landed a few hundred feet away. I looked up and still didn't see Ace. "Come on…" I say to myself. Then, I saw Ace jump off the building and a few seconds later her chute deployed. I smiled but it was short lived because I saw blasts come from UNIT HQ and they shot through Ace's parachute, and the chute started to tear. But, then a few moments later the TARDIS materialized on its side, under Ace catching her. The TARDIS then dematerialized and then rematerialized next to Annabelle and me on the sidewalk.
Annabelle and I walked in and saw Yaz at the console, a Black man I had never seen before standing off to the side and Ace was standing on the landing leading to the console. I walked up to Yaz, "Where's The Doctor?"
"Gone."
"What do you mean gone?" asked Annabelle, as she joined us.
Yaz took a deep breath, "The Master forced her to regenerate into him,"
"What?" said Annabelle and I together.
"But we have a plan to get her back," said Yaz.
"What do you mean we?" I asked.
"The Doctor and I."
"But you said she as gone," said Annabelle.
"She inserted a nano-implant in me that can create an interactive AI holo-Doctor and she has a plan," said Yas, "But, I need you and Annabelle to go with Ace and help her stop the Daleks."
"All right," I said reluctantly.
Soon, Ace, Annabelle and I were in a volcano in Boliva. The Daleks had created some sort of drill. We hid behind some rocks and watch some Daleks go by, "I think we might be a bit outnumbered," said Annabelle.
Ace then took a sliver canister out from under her jacket, "Good think I souped up the Nitro 9."
Just then a hologram of the Doctor appeared, "Nitro 999! Just what we need. Good work, Ace."
"How are you doing that?" she asked.
"The Doctor must have put a nano-implant in you too," I said, "That must have been that static shock you got at UNIT."
The Holo-Doctor nodded, "Yep, just in case you need help, but it looks like you're doing fine."
"So, it's fine for me to blow stuff up when you decide?" asked Ace, "Nothing's changed." She put the canister away.
The hologram changed to an older looking version of The Doctor's 7th incarnation, "It's never fine to blow stuff up," he said, "Sometimes, sadly, it's the only solution. But only after fair warning."
"Now it's getting freaky," said Ace.
"I was only ever trying to teach you good habits, Ace. Obviously, I failed."
"You never failed me, Professor. You made me the person I am today. I'm sorry we fell out. I'm sorry I judged you. I didn't understand the burden you carried."
"All children leave home sooner or later," said The 7th Holo-Doctor, "The joy is to watch them fly." I looked at Annabelle… I couldn't help but wonder when it would be her turn to leave the nest. I took her hand. She looked at me and smiled.
"So... we're good?" said Ace to the Holo-Doctor.
"Oh, we're more than good. We're ace!" Then The Holo-Doctor turned back into her incarnation and said, "Now, let's get that Nitro 999 going." Then she disappeared.
We heard a Dalek say, "Power levels now increasing."
Ace took the canister of Nitro 999 out from under her coat and handed it to Annabelle, "Hold this for now." Then Ace pulled out her bat.
Annabelle smiled until I took the canister from her, "Spoil sport," she said.
We started walking along the rock wall. Then, the Dalek said, "Prepare to engage circuit four."
"All sectors now engaging full power," said another Dalek.
"Stay here," Ace whispered to us, "There is something around this corner." She wait a second then jumped out with a scream.
Then, someone else screamed, then we heard a male human voice, say. "Oh, you, er... Easy, love. Arnold Palmer... son. Volcano inspector," It was Graham!
We came out of our hiding place and saw Graham was holding a piece of psychic paper. Ace ready what she saw on the paper, "Graham, friend of the Doctor. Oh! Former bus driver, worried about the amount of Daleks in here and what he's going to do about it."
"I can't get the hang of this," said Graham, as he turned the psychic paper toward him. As he put it away, he said, "Listen, those metal things... they are from outer space, and they seem to be drilling to disrupt the tectonic plates. We've got to get rid of them a bit sharpish."
"I know," said Ace, "Want to see how I dealt with them in 1963?"
"1963? How old are you?"
"Excuse me. A gentleman never asks that, and never on the first date. I'm Ace." Then she walked away.
"Yes, you are," said Graham. Then, we started to follow Ace.
We made it to the drill and there was one lone Dalek on guard. Ace ran up to it and shouted, "Oi! Pepper pot!" before it could react, she broke off its eye stalk with her bat, "Now, Graham!"
Graham put a canister of Nitro 999 on the Dalek and pulled the pin, "Mission in peril!" it shouted and started shooting blindly.
"How long are the timers?" asked Graham.
"Run!" shouted Ace. Then the Dalek exploded the moment Graham got to safety," Timer still needs work."
"Yeah," said Graham.
Ace started to hand us canisters of Nitro 999 as we walked up to the drill, "Pack a load of Nitro onto this."
"Right," said Graham.
"This should be enough to bring it down," said Annabelle.
"Well, I hope the timers last longer on this batch," I said, "Because the moment this goes up, we've got to get to the surface fast and get past a load of angry Daleks. And I'd like to make it out of here alive. Ready?"
"Ready," said Ace.
"Ready," said Graham.
"Ready," said Annabelle.
We pulled the pins and started to run. Then, the TARDIS materialized in front of us, and The Doctor opened the door. "Graham!" said The Doctor.
"Hey, Doc!" said Graham.
"How did you get here?" they said together, as we followed Graham into the TARDIS.
"It's about to blow, Professor!" said Ace, as she ran in.
The Doctor followed and closed the door just as The Daleks opened fire on the TARDIS. I gave The Doctor a hug and said, "You don't know how happy I am to see you…"
She hugged me back and said, "I think I have a good idea… Come on… We need to collect a couple more…"
We went over to the console and started the TARDIS up, just as the volcano went up. Our next stop was outside UNIT HQ.
Annabelle and I followed The Doctor out and see saw Kate and Tegan standing in front of the rubble that was once UNIT HQ. "Wow. Remind me never to mess with either of you," said The Doctor.
Tegan and Kate looked at us, "I thought that was a given!" said Tegan marched toward us, "And yes, I would like to go in the TARDIS." She walked right past Us Time Ladies and when in the TARDIS.
I looked at Kate and said, "You want to come?"
She pointed at herself then she came inside.
The Doctor started the TARDIS, and we landed on a Cyber conversion planet that was about Earth in 1916. The Doctor then started to position people around the console, "Okay. So now it really is crowded in here, just how I like it. I'm going to need every single one of you." She gave Kate, Ace, Yaz, Vinder, Graham and Tegan a control. "Everybody okay?"
All the humans started talking at once and then The Doctor said, "No, sorry. No time." she looked at Graham while making an adjustment, "Where's Ryan?"
"Patagonia," he said.
The Doctor looked at Vinder and said, "Vinder, is that your ship on the surface of this Cyber planet?" She walked moved him off the console, "Don't speak. No time. Come with me. Teddy, Annabelle, come along" We followed the Doctor as she walked with him toward the door, "Another problem to solve." She stopped and looked at our friends, "When I say 'now,' activate everything." Then she turned and walked toward the door, "Chop chop, Vinder."
I heard Graham said, "She's still not explaining anything, then?"
"How is it bigger on the inside?" asked Kate.
Once we got outside, I said a small spacecraft, a Qurunx flying around and a blue police box of in the distance. "That is the Master's TARDIS," said The Doctor, "You and Annabelle get ready it to link up with our TARDIS, while I fix Vinder's ship."
"You got it," I said.
Annabelle and I walked in, and it was quite different than our TARDIS, it was pink and purple inside, and the console had a large cube on top of the console, "Wow," I said, "A Type 75! Nice…."
"Don't let our TARDIS her you say that" said Annabelle, as she got the TARDIS ready to link up, "You know how jealous she can get."
I nodded and we got to work. A short time later The Doctor walked in. She opened a communication link to our TARDIS. "Everyone still in position? Good. We're in the Master's Tardis."
"He's smart, I'll give him that," I said, as I enter commands into the console, "Using a TARDIS to power the spatiotemporal movement of a Cyber conversion planet."
"What a mind, what a TARDIS!" said The Doctor, "Type 75. Bit flashy for my tastes, but way more powerful than mine."
"But he's pushed his TARDIS right to the edge," said Annabelle, "He burned out half his systems, marooned himself here."
"So, we're linking the TARDISes. We're using ours to jump-start his. So, when I say 'now,' activate the control I gave you and we'll have a double-powered TARDIS. Now."
"Go, go, go!" shouted Yaz.
And we all activated our controls, the console on our TARDIS started to smoke and spark. The Doctor a holographic readout, "Vinder heading home, tick."
"She really doesn't like it!" said Ace.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Teagan.
"No, this has to work. No margin for error," said The Doctor as she pulled another handle. Then, a few moments later, she checked the holographic readout again, "Yes! Temporal hop, 106 years, done." The three of us high fived each other and The Doctor said, "Now for conversion. I really hope this works." She pulled a lever and I looked at a screen on the console. The Cyber conversion planet sent out conversion beams down to Earth that converted all the lava from the erupting volcanos into steel.
Once it was all over, Tegan asked, "Did she just freeze volcanoes into steel?"
"Yes, I did," said The Doctor, "Turning multiple planet-threatening situations into public art! You're welcome."
"Okay, don't get cocky," said Yaz.
"Now, one last thing and we're done," she turned off the commlink.
We walked onto the planet's surface and looked up at the Qurunx, and The Doctor spoke to it, "I'm sorry for what was done to you. I'm sorry that you were taken and that you've been harnessed. I'll see you released. But I need one more thing from you. Channel your energy down into this planet. Disintegrate everything. And then you'll be free!" Then the Qurunx fired a beam of red energy down on to the planet, "Yes, that's it! What a creature! What a universe! I'll never understand it."
Then we headed back to our TARDIS. Then, we heard The Master's voice callout, "Doctor!"
The door was open on his TARDIS, and he was on the ground writhing in pain, "You lost," said The Doctor, "You gambled, and you lost. And now your body's failing because of what you put it through."
"Maybe. But if I can't be the Doctor," said The Master. He took out a device, "neither can you," and pressed a button. The Qurunx's energy beamed moved at us and before we had a chance to react, the beam hit us.
The next thing I knew. The Doctor, Annabelle and I were all laying on the floor of the control room. I wasn't sure how we got there. Annabelle told me later she picked me up and carried me to the TARDIS. But she passed out soon after getting on board. Yaz ran out and picked up The Doctor.
I looked over at the console and I saw Yaz, by herself. "Did we do it?" asked The Doctor.
"We did it," said Yaz, "Well, you did it."
The three of us sat up, "Where is everyone?" I asked.
"I took them home."
"Did ya?" said The Doctor, as we got to our feet, "That's clever,"
"Well, Croydon, so close enough," said Yaz, as she stepped closer.
"How long were we out?" asked Annabelle.
"A while," said Yaz.
Just then the Cloister Bell started to ring. The Doctor moved toward the console and stumbled a bit, Yaz caught her, and The Doctor asked, "Why's the Cloister Bell ringing?"
"Doctor, look at your hand," said Yaz.
The Doctor's lifted her right hand, and it was glowing with regeneration energy. Annabelle and I did the same and our hands were glowing with regeneration energy as well.
"No," said The Doctor, "No. That's not right. I need more time. I want more time! Ah! You know what this means, right?" She looked at Yaz, "Yeah? It's all right. It's all right, Yaz. One last trip. Where would you choose? What flavor ice cream?
Annabelle and I gave The Doctor and Yaz some alone time eating ice cream on the roof of the TARDIS. While Annabelle and I both called into our jobs and told them that we had to quit effective immediately. When I got of the phone, I threw my phone across the room in frustration. I crouched down and started to cry. Annabelle came up to me and said, "Mom… What's wrong…"
I looked up at her tears running down my cheeks, "I was so happy with our life in Denver. We had a nice little house…. We had a great jobs… Friends…And now it's all gone… There are times that I wish The Doctor had never come to Denver and I was my original self, just normal human Teddy Duncan…" Then, I looked at Annabelle, and smiled. "But then, I look at you, and remember… If The Doctor had never found me… I wouldn't have you…"She smiled, and we hugged.
We took Yaz home and then we parked the TARDIS near Durdle Door in Dorset, England. The Doctor looked at the console and said, "Look after the next one. We're going to take in one last sunrise…"
We stepped out just as the sun was rising. We took a few steps away from the TARDIS. The Doctor was on my right and Annabelle was on my left. I could feel the regeneration energy starting to build. It was almost time. "Oh, the blossomiest blossom. That's the only sad thing. I want to know what happens next. Right, then. Doctor Whoever-I'm-about-to-be. Tag, you're it, " Then, the three of us exploded in regeneration energy.
(AN: Annabelle Duncan is now played by Cait Fairbanks)
When, it was done, I looked over at Annabelle. She looked to be about 31 she had long black hair and hazel eyes. But the second she looked at me she looked shocked, "What is it?" I asked. The voice shocked me… I hadn't heard that voice in over a thousand years… It was my original voice! I looked down and the clothes I had been wearing had changed. I was no longer wearing my light blue tank top with a dark blue button-up shirt over top, black jeans and black Adidas Campus sneakers. I was wearing a blue top, black slacks and black Mary Jane Flats.
(AN: Teddy Duncan is now played by Bridget Mendler)
Then, I heard another familiar voice, "I know these teeth," I looked over at The Doctor, and it was his 10th incarnation! But older, He looked at his hands, "What?" He looked down at his clothes and they had changed into a suit like what he used to wear, "What?" He put his hands along his face and said, "What?!"
(AN: The Doctor is now played by David Tennant)
AN: Remember, if you like this story, Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going!