KW: Hey everyone, kathmanw19 here with the first interlude chapter of Doctor Who Series 3.5, titled "Settling In". Now in this interlude, which picks up right where the previous chapter left off, the new companions get a tour of the TARDIS, settling in (see what i did there) their new bedrooms and having fun as well. Just a little bit of fun before the real adventure begins. But before we get started, we're gonna take a moment to address a couple audience questions.
KW: We've gotten some comments, and some were confused on what I meant by "companion theme", so I should elaborate a bit. What I meant by "companion theme" was their theme music. You know all of the modern DW companions have theme music (well expect the 13th doctor companions). So for example, Tigger's theme music would be the instrumental of "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" from The Tigger Movie, and "How Does A Moment Last Forever?", arranged by Sean O'Loughlin. Look them up on YouTube if you want to hear these two tracks, and search for some ideas on the other companions' theme music.
KW: Another question we got is related to Gwen from Ben 10, and that's the question about Charmcaster's spellbook. Well the answer to that is no, she doesn't have it yet. But her magic will come into play as the series goes. Btw, she doesn't know about her gift yet, that's all I'm gonna say.
KW: Thank you for the comments so far. Please keep commenting on this story, TMK and I look forward to reading your opinions. And now without further ado, here is "Settling In".
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, nor the characters from the show, nor the companions as they belong to their respective owners.
Settling In
As the Doctor flipped the lever on the TARDIS to send it into time and space, he looked up to the group that had come to join him on this amazing adventure and smiled.
"For now, I've set the TARDIS to simply fly around the Time Vortex," the Doctor explained. "We'll simply fly around aimlessly until I program a destination. So now that you're all here, are there any questions?"
Right away, Double D's hand shot up into the air.
"Yes, Double D?"
"Would I trouble you if I asked to use your shower if you have one?"
Frankie groaned. "Actually, a shower sounds amazing right now." Most of the entire group then voiced their assent.
The Doctor was confused until he sniffed with his nose and caught an awful smell that made him cover his nose. He then realized the smell was coming from the non-robot and non-Gem members of the group.
"Geez, how long have you been wearing those clothes?"
"Pretty much since the Collector kidnapped each of us," Dipper said.
"I want to burn my sock at this point," Riley said.
"I have been daydreaming about nothing but a nice shower for the last three days," Double D added.
"Meh, used to it," said Murdock.
Of course. The Doctor's new companions had all been confined in a spaceship's brig for up to a month, with only the most basic of hygiene necessities available to them. It was only natural that at that moment, the deepest wish for many of them was a nice shower.
Thankfully, the Doctor already had a solution.
The Doctor nodded. "Right, that does make sense. Luckily, the TARDIS can adjust internally to fill the needs of her passengers. You should already have your bedrooms prepared. Everyone has a room of their own."
Daxter raised his hand. "If we're all getting rooms, Tess and I want to share one. Is that cool?"
"Of course. And you all have your own fully-equipped bathrooms too."
"Wait, 'her'?" Judy asked.
"The TARDIS is sentient."
"Ah."
The Doctor looked at the group. "With that said, now is your chance to explore the TARDIS. Don't worry about not finding where you want to go. As long as you're nice to the Old Girl, you'll never be lost. But for those who need to use the showers, please do so first. And I mean it. Yikes," he said as he tried to fan the smell away with his hand.
Most of the group then slowly made their way out of the console room and into the TARDIS hallways. Soon, only a handful remained with the Doctor, including Pearl.
"Right, I suppose you actually wouldn't need a shower."
"Nope. Doesn't mean I don't take care of my gem."
"Ok then, what do you need?"
Pearl shrugged. "Just the kind of stuff you normally use to clean pearls."
The tone in Pearl's voice seemed friendly, but the Doctor wasn't fooled. It was pretty clear at that point, Pearl still didn't trust the Doctor.
"What I said earlier was true, you know," the Doctor spoke softly.
Pearl sighed. "It's just…"
She turned her head to look at him. "Look, Doctor. One thing you probably know is how long Gems live. I am 8,000 years old. I'm actually probably older than you are. Now, it did take my people awhile to find out about organic lifeforms. But we had time to learn about the Time Lords. AND the Last Great Time War. Your kind versus the Daleks, with reality itself on the line."
The Doctor nodded. "So you know all about that."
"I do. And to be honest, how were the Time Lords any better than the Daleks during that?"
The Doctor stared at the floor. "I did some things in that war that I'm trying so hard to forget."
Pearl gave him a look of sadness. "The history of the Time Lords speaks for itself. And knowing all of it, how can I possibly trust you? Everyone here, they don't know about your people. But I do. How am I supposed to trust and believe that you will keep everyone here safe and bring them home in one piece?"
Hearing all of this, the Doctor nodded. "I understand how you feel, truly. But please, at least try. All I ask, Pearl, is that you try."
"That is all I CAN promise," Pearl told him.
Then they heard a squeaking noise coming from the corner. They turned around and saw WALL-E moving around the room, the gears in his wheels squeaking loudly.
"Oh, WALL-E!" Pearl exclaimed.
"Seems that WALL-E needs a bit of TLC as well," the Doctor grinned. "Don't worry, Pearl. I can run maintenance on WALL-E. You go and find your room."
Pearl nodded and walked out of the console room and into the hallway, while the Doctor scanned WALL-E with his sonic screwdriver to begin diagnostics.
(Meanwhile…)
The TARDIS had set out to make every new passenger as comfortable as possible. Thus, everyone's bedroom had been specifically engineered to look the same way it would back home. Frankie quickly figured this out when she found her room to look the same as her room back at Foster's. The bed looked the same, as did the decor, and even the computer on her desk. Even the view outside her balcony was the same, even though she quickly figured out that there was a wall where the edge of her balcony would normally be.
Grabbing a change of clothes from the fully-stocked closet, Frankie took a quick look into her bathroom and noticed how, while it also looked the same as the one at home, it had a few extra amenities such as exact temperature control, a state-of-the-art hair dryer, a soap dispenser that could provide soap in any choice of scent, a special cabinet containing several towels and other shower items, and more. Smiling, Frankie grabbed a towel to begin her shower.
Then she noticed a few pictures on the nightstand that had never been in her normal room. One was of Foster's, then there was a picture of Frankie with her grandmother, known as Madame Foster. A third contained one of the recent yearly pictures of the Foster's residents (specifically the picture before last, for…reasons), and one of her, her grandma, Mr. Herriman, a human boy named Mac, his imaginary friend Bloo, and imaginary friends Coco, Eduardo, and Wilt.
Frankie smiled again. "See you guys again soon," she whispered as she walked back into the bathroom to begin her shower.
(In another room…)
Tigger was looking at his own pictures, particularly one of him and all his friends from the Hundred Acre Woods.
"I'll be back soon, everybody," he said. "I promise."
With a final wistful look at the picture, Tigger hopped out of his room and into the hallway, itching to explore the ship. But he didn't get very far, as he quickly noticed the label on the door right next to his bedroom.
'TRAMPOLINE ROOM'
And that was it.
In no time flat, Tigger was jumping on the large trampoline in the center of the room, bouncing back and forth between it and the smaller trampolines. "I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!"
(Meanwhile…)
After finishing up the diagnostics and tuning up on WALL-E, the Doctor was ready for a few hours of relaxation in his bedroom. It was fairly rare for him to take such a respite, but today had been a weird day. Even for him. Some time alone to clear his head would do him some good.
Without looking up as he studied the data he had gathered on WALL-E, he walked down the TARDIS hallways until he eventually reached his bedroom door and opened it. Still not looking up, he walked towards the bathroom door and turned the handle, too distracted to register the sound of running water.
But he definitely started paying attention once he heard Frankie's panicked scream.
"DOCTOR!"
Frankie covered herself up with the shower curtain as the Doctor screamed in shock and covered his eyes.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Thought this was my room."
"Doctor, get out!"
"I was looking at WALL-E's diagnostics info, and-"
"GET OUT!"
In perhaps the first instance of a human instilling fear into him since Jackie Tyler, the Doctor rushed out of Frankie's bedroom and back into the hallway.
He shuddered. Just when he thought his day couldn't get any weirder. Shaking his head, he continued down the hallway to his own room.
(Later…)
Once everyone had finished getting cleaned up, most of the group had begun wandering around the TARDIS, exploring whatever they could find. Murdock had practically jumped for joy when he discovered a room filled with a collection of broken planes and other aircraft. Parker was ecstatic to find a fully equipped training gym, complete with an obstacle course.
Pearl, Sam, Max, Jessica, and Scooby grouped up to explore (Scooby was still pretty terrified and didn't want to be alone in the TARDIS), finding mainly the kitchen and a number of various sitting rooms, perfect for getting together and relaxing. Max jumped for joy when the group found an arcade.
But the most interesting find came when Pearl's group found a door labeled "Console Room". Sam shook his head, perplexed.
"That definitely isn't the control room," he said. "It can't be. The one we were in had a different door."
"I passed by the Doctor earlier," Jessica explained. "He said the TARDIS can adjust her contents to an infinite degree. For all we know, this IS just the normal console room."
Max gasped. "A sentient ship that rearranges itself whenever it wants? Cool! Now we have to open that door to see if it's true."
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine." Slowly, she turned the handle and opened the door.
The room that the group entered looked very different from the console room they had originally set foot in. Yet, it felt both different and exactly the same all at once. The room itself was almost completely white, with the console maintaining an almost retro feel to it. A large number of large, round wall lights lined the walls.
"Another console room?" Jessica asked.
"I like it," said Sam. "Very retro in here."
Scooby began sniffing the walls, still a little unsure of the new room. Soon, he was confident that there wasn't some kind of big monster in there. "Rery relcoming," he said, clearly liking the atmosphere. The group spent several minutes checking out every nook and cranny of the room, concluding it was definitely supposed to work the same way as the normal console room.
"So, hold on," Pearl pondered. "Why would the Doctor have two console rooms on the ship?"
"I know, right?" Max said as he lounged on the jump seat. "This room has some style. I don't understand why the Doc wouldn't just use this one to control the ship."
Just then, the Doctor's voice rang out through the room. "I have my reasons." The group turned their heads and saw the Doctor standing at the doorway.
"Uh, how long have you been standing there?" Sam asked.
"A few minutes. I was looking for Frankie, but I overheard you guys in here and wanted to weigh in."
"So, what's the deal with the second room?" Max asked. "I honestly like this one more. Why not just use this one?"
"You have your opinions, and I have mine," the Doctor explained. "But there was a time when I preferred this look myself."
"How long ago was that?" Jessica asked.
"Several centuries ago."
"You're THAT old?"
"I'm 903."
Jessica's jaw dropped. "Holy cow. How come you don't look that old?"
The Doctor smiled sadly. "Let's just say that when I used this look for the console room, I was a completely different person."
"So why keep it anyway?" Pearl asked.
"Oh, that part wasn't my idea. The TARDIS has a nostalgic side to her. Every console room design I've used, she saves it as a memento." He patted the console affectionately.
"So the ship just keeps all your old console rooms as souvenirs or something" Max asked.
"Something like that."
'And who can blame her?' the Doctor thought as his mind wandered. While he had never had a group of companions this large before, there was a long list of people who had traveled with the Doctor, which he now found himself thinking about. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, two school teachers whom he was forced to kidnap when they stumbled upon the TARDIS. Sarah Jane Smith, a journalist and currently a protector of Earth in her own right. Peri Brown, an American college student. Dorothy McShane, aka Ace, who was a teenager when she first traveled with the Doctor.
Then there was Susan Foreman, the preferred name of the Doctor's granddaughter, who had accompanied him when he first fled from his home planet of Gallifrey and was part of the reason Ian and Barbara had joined them. However, she was eventually forced to stay behind on Earth so she could live her own life, only to be later thrust into the conflict of the Last Great Time War. The Doctor hadn't heard from her since.
There were two companions whom the Doctor felt more longing for than any other. Adric, an Alzarian who died heroically to protect a prehistoric Earth, only to be resurrected with a thirst for revenge against the Doctor himself. Rose Tyler, who risked her own life to protect the Doctor and grew closer to him than he would admit, only to be separated forever from him by a parallel universe. Even now, the Doctor could still remember his final conversation with Rose, where she told him she loved him, and he was unable to finish his response fully before the transmission cut.
"Doctor? Earth to Doctor."
Suddenly, Sam's paw waving across his face snapped him back into reality. Sam, Max, Jessica, Scooby, and Pearl all gave him concerned stares. The Doctor shook his head, feeling embarrassed once again. "Sorry. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Pearl asked.
Silently, the Doctor nodded, before smiling again and changing the subject. "Right. Anyway, there are the older console rooms, and some past bedrooms the TARDIS tends to hold onto. You might be able to explore them too if you ask her. As for me, I still need to find Frankie, because I need to ask her something." He then muttered, "That, and I owe her an apology…"
"Wait, why do you owe Frankie an apology?" Jessica asked.
The Doctor rubbed his neck sheepishly. The embarrassment just kept coming, it seemed. "Heh…no reason." Quickly, he headed out of the room and into the hallway.
Sam stared at the others, confused. "What the heck was that all about?"
(Later…)
Belle stared in awe at the sight before her. "Wow…"
She was staring at probably the largest collection of books she had ever seen. The TARDIS library contained a large assortment of books, magazines, and other literary material from across time and space. Essentially, the room was a paradise for Belle.
For several minutes, she searched the aisles, trying to decide which book she would read first. Finding a copy of The Canterbury Tales translated into French, she sat down on one of the nearby armchairs, opened the book and began to read.
Then she heard footsteps coming from outside, getting louder. She looked up to see the Doctor walking into the library.
"Ah, Belle. I see you found the library." The Doctor smiled at her.
She smiled back and nodded. "It's just amazing, all these books. How many do you have in here?"
"Eh, lost count after a million," the Doctor replied as he looked around the shelves. Then he noticed the book Belle was currently reading and smiled again.
"I see you picked out a good one to read," he said. "The Canterbury Tales is one of the first Earth books I ever took the time to read. I just don't remember when I first read it ."
"Wow," Belle said in awe.
"I have The Canterbury Tales in any language you can think of. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Klingon..."
"Wait, Klingon?" Belle asked as she looked up at the Doctor.
"Alien species. Anyway, the library is open, explore it as you wish. But I wouldn't recommend taking any Earth books written after your time," he warned.
"Beause knowledge of the future would be bad?" Belle guessed.
"Yep," he said while popping the "p".
"Good to know." she said
"Now, have you seen Frankie? I have a few matters to discuss with her...and an apology."
Belle thought for a moment, trying to remember. Then she said, "Well I did see her at one point when I was closing the library door."
"Thanks, Belle." he said as he ran out of the library
"Also, an apology? What for? And why are you blushing?"
But Belle didn't hear an answer from him. So she shrugged and went back to her book, picking up where she left off.
Meanwhile, Chihiro was walking down one of the corridors of the TARDIS, bewildered by everything so far. During her exploration, she found a garden, a swimming pool, and even a Zen garden, which sorta remind her of home. She missed her home, her mind wandering back to the day she was taken. It was just a couple of weeks after her adventure in the spirit world and officially settling in her new home with her parents. The day the Collector took her had been pretty normal until she was walking home from her new school, when something knocked her out. When she woke up, she found herself in a cell with strange and unusual characters. In fact, she had been the last one to be taken before the Doctor.
She looked at her school bag, which she had on her when she was kidnapped. The bag contained her school book as well as a sketch pad along with color pencils and markers and an eraser, as well as her lunchbox. Then all of the sudden, she bumped into someone which caused her to drop her bag. As she bent down to pick it up, she looked up and saw the Doctor.
"Oh, Doctor! Sorry, I was lost in thought."
"No, no. I was in a hurry." The Doctor bent down to help Chihiro put her spilt stuff back in her bag. Once they were finished, they stood up again, and the Doctor gave a curious stare to the ten year old.
"Chihiro, if I may ask, you seem oddly comfortable with all this for someone as young as you."
"Well...I guess I've seen some weird things already."
"Do tell. I have probably seen weirder."
Chihiro rubbed her neck, trying to figure out how best to describe her experiences. She decided to give the short version for the time being. "While my parents and I were moving to a new town, we stumbled into a strange world. My parents were turned into pigs, I signed my life away to a witch, and I made friends with a dragon."
The Doctor blinked. "Ok."
"I'll give you more details later."
"Yeah…," the Doctor muttered as he hurried off to the kitchen. "Pigs, dragon, witch."
(In the kitchen…)
Frankie was searching the cabinets. "Aha! Earl Grey tea. Perfect."
She took the tea bags out of the cabinet and began brewing. Thankfully, years of having to make tea for both her grandmother and Mr. Herriman had made her an expert in making most types of tea. And it didn't hurt that she herself had gained a taste for Earl Grey tea. The tea bag was halfway done inside her teacup when she heard a knock on the door. She glanced at the door for a moment, but chose to ignore it and returned to her tea.
That is, until the door opened and the Doctor poked his head into the kitchen, covering his eyes with his fingers.
"Is it safe? I'm assuming it is," the Doctor said.
Frankie rolled her eyes. "In the kitchen, where literally everyone can walk in at any given time? Yeah, probably."
Exhaling a sigh of relief, the Doctor removed his hand from his face.
"Sorry, I was just being cautious. And I am so sorry for what happened earlier. I promise, I thought I was in my own room. I guess the events of today have left me more distracted than I first imagined."
The caregiver shrugged. "It's cool. Trust me, you weren't the first who accidentally walked in on me. And you won't be the last. Remind me to ask Mr. Herriman if someone can finally fix my bathroom door whenever I get home."
"Okay, good. Also, can we just not speak of what happened ever again?"
"Yep."
"Brilliant."
Frankie tea finished brewing, and she removed the bag. "Would you like some tea as well?" she asked.
"Yes, please," the Doctor replied, smiling.
As they waited for the second cup to brew, Frankie looked at the Doctor. "So is that all you wanted to talk to me about?"
The Doctor shook his head. "That was only part of it. Now I know we've only just met, but I have a…rather large favor to ask of you."
"Uh, okay. What is it?" Frankie asked.
"Well…first, I have to come clean and admit this is nowhere near the first time I've let others join me in the TARDIS. In fact, there was somebody who left only quite recently. I am 903 years old, and in that time, many others have joined me in my travels across time and space. But I have never had this many people join me all at once. This is completely new for me. And if I said I could easily handle the task of making sure all thirty of us remain safe and sound singlehandedly, I would be a liar."
Frankie nodded. "Right…"
"You are professionally trained as a caregiver, with years of experience looking after a much bigger group than this. But more than that, you're human. I'm not. You can more easily understand what everyone needs when they need it. Not to mention helping me back on the Collector's ship. I'm not sure how we all would've fared if you hadn't been there."
"So what are you saying?"
The Doctor sighed. "I can't lead us all alone. I need someone to help me lead this group, and keep them safe. A second-in-command, if you will. And I don't think there is anyone more qualified on this ship than you."
Frankie nodded again. "Okay, yeah. I get it."
"I mean…you don't have to if you don't want to. If you say no Frankie, I will completely understand. This IS asking a lot of you, and-"
"Will you relax? I'll do it."
The Doctor's jaw dropped. "Really? Just like that?"
"This is one of the most chaotic groups I've ever been a part of, and I've lived in an imaginary friends' foster home since I was born. You're right, Doctor. You're gonna need all the help you can get. Besides, I'm sure even with this group, this will STILL be nothing compared to Foster's."
"Okay, that's fair," the Doctor said, smiling. "Thank you, Frankie. And I promise I won't make you do all the cleaning and cooking by yourself."
Frankie smiled back before her expression turned serious. "We're gonna have to set up some rules for everyone."
"Absolutely, we can't just let a group this size run amok everywhere, not in the TARDIS or wherever we decide to go."
"We DO have to make sure these rules are fair. The last thing I want is for us to run the place like Mr. Herriman."
"Right. I think we can spend some time tonight coming up with the list.
Just then, they heard another knock on the kitchen door. Without waiting for an answer, the door opened to reveal Camillo.
"Do you two want to come and see this?" he asked.
"See what?" Frankie asked.
"Oh, you'll find out. Come on, most of us are in the wardrobe."
He ran off, and Frankie and the Doctor shared a glance before running after him.
(In the wardrobe…)
Camillo, the Doctor, and Frankie arrived at the TARDIS' wardrobe. Much like the ship it was on, the wardrobe provided all kinds of clothes for whatever occasion the passengers might take part in. And that meant EVERYTHING. In one corner, someone could find everyday clothes from Ancient Rome. In another, Victorian-era formal attire, and so on. The new passengers had found this out for themselves, and were using said feature in a rather fun way. The Doctor grinned at the sight, while Frankie had to hide her laughter.
The first thing they had noticed was a long pathway cleared in the room. Riley stood at the end, holding a hairbrush the way one would a microphone.
"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the first ever TARDIS Fashion Showcase! We're here in the TARDIS wardrobe, ready to view the greatest hits of fashion in all the cosmos. Get ready, because the people walking down our made-up runway all have the ultimate fashion dynamo! First, we have the French maiden Belle wearing a delightful yellow ball gown. Just look at those sleeves. Yellow is definitely her color."
(Belle's dress here is NOT exactly like the one she will go on to wear, but it's nice to have that callback.)
At the other end of the runway, Star walked out, wearing an outfit that actually sparked a number of memories in the Doctor's mind.
"Next, we have Star Butterfly in a classic, eclectic ensemble," Riley announced. "A fashionable tweed jacket, matching fedora, and quite the pants. But the crowning achievement? That beautiful scarf! Rock it, Star!"
Star held up the end of her scarf, which dangled from the rest of said scarf around her neck, and waved it around playfully before walking back up the runway.
"Next up, we have Murdock the rascal pilot, wearing what appears to be…a cricket outfit? And why is he wearing celery on his jacket?" Riley raised an eyebrow, while the Doctor had to stifle his laughter; he hadn't expected this little fashion show to be so filled with nostalgia.
A few more outfits were presented, some of them bringing the Doctor a blast from the past as he got to see a few more of his past lives' clothes worn by his new companions. Particularly, he had to admit the colorful jacket worn in his sixth incarnation looked really good on Max.
"Hey, you seem to really be paying attention to some of the outfits," Dipper said. "Do we look good in them?"
The Doctor shrugged, trying to dodge the question. "I thought you looked good in all of the outfits you all tried on."
"Tell that to Ed in that Victorian-era getup."
That remark caused the Doctor to cackle. One thing was certain, he would never be bored as long as these guys were on his ship.
(Location unknown…)
Deep in the heart of space, a solitary ship floated, currently adrift in the cosmos. Inside the ship, walking fast down a corridor was a humanoid alien with light green skin, catlike irises on his eyes, and wearing a rugged outfit and a worried look on his face.
"Oh, she is really not gonna like this news." he muttered worriedly as he approached the door.
He clicked on a button near the door. The door opened and he heard an female voice coming from the room.
"Enter."
The man slowly entered the dimly lit room, where he saw a woman in a long cloak, her back turned against the green-skinned man. She was leaning over a table cluttered with space charts, maps, etc. On the wall, there was a board with charts, maps and pictures pinned to it.
"Well? What is it Frol?" the woman asked, not turning around or looking up. The dim light barely made it possible to make out the woman's face.
"Uh ma'am, I got some new regarding the Collector," he slowly said out of fear.
"Then spill it."
"Well, uhm I'm afraid it's bad news," Frol said, getting the news over with. "He's been arrested, and all of the prisoners escaped…even him."
A few seconds of awkward silence filled the room.
"Please don't hurt me," Frol squeaked out of fear.
The woman lifted her head and sighed. "You know how I feel about bad news."
Frol gulped in fear as the woman turned around, holding up a laser gun. In one split second, she aimed the gun and shot the alien in the leg!
"OW! Right in the good leg!" Frol yelled as he sank to the floor, clutching his leg in pain.
"Be glad it's on stun, you nincompoop " she growled at him
She turned back to her maps "So he's out there. No matter. I'll just have to act quickly, is all." she said.
"As long as you don't shoot me," Frol muttered as he bandaged his leg.
"What's that?"
"Nothing!"
"That's what I thought. Now I want you to watch out for any sightings. Once we find him, I will decide my next step.
"And what about the collector?" Frol slowly asked the woman.
Despite not seeing the woman's face clearly, Frol could've swore she was smiling.
"Well then set coordinates to Nordanus Prison. I will want to have a little chat with him soon.
Frol bowed his head, then limped out of the room, leaving the woman to her duties.
This chapter is dedicated to James Earl Jones
1931-2024
"May the Force be with you always."
an: please comment and fave and follow this story