Doctor Who: The Time of the Companions: Book 3 (Doctor Who: The Companions' Adventure)

by Cour M.

  “Good luck not letting his imagination get to him,” The Dream Lord said, “now here is your task. This is not a choice between what is real and what is fake, but a journey. Something tells me that you are all in need of one. Your journey is to survive this land, to make it to the place where the soldiers are, and then the truth will be revealed to you.”

  “What truth?” Ace asked.

  “The only truth that matters, Ace.”

  “Enough of this,” Ten bellowed, “let the others go and send me to get the soldiers myself. They have nothing to do with this.”

  “Look around you, Doctor. They have everything to do with this. And if they do not travel with you, then deal is off, and you will never leave this land. And good luck thinking that the TARDIS can help you. Amy and Rory can tell you. You won’t even be able to find out where it is, until I am prepared to give it to you.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Ten hissed, coming forward, “Why us?”

  “Because it’s you.”

  Ten’s eyes turned darker.

  “Who are you that you come after me? You’re not a Dalek, not a cyberman, a sea devil, or a zygon. It’s believed you’re me, but time will tell. No! So who are you that you hate me so much?”

  “I’d say spoilers, Doctor, but that word is so used that I cannot touch it, now can I?”

  “You better not touch it!”

  “I prefer not to, because I don’t even like how it sounds. You want to know my true identity, Doctor, fine, then I shall think if that will be the bargain if you win. Survive this land, Doctor, travel with your ‘gang’ to the location, find where the captured soldiers are, and then the truth will become clear.”

  “Once more, let them all go and just take me.”

  “And once more… no.” The Dream Lord backed away and clapped his hands. In an instant, his coat grew a little longer and flapped in the wind. “So, tell me, will you continue to stand there all day, or will you get going? Just to warn you, in the next few seconds, you might want to run.”

  He disappeared suddenly.

  “I don’t like him,” Kenneth said.

  “No one ever does,” Rory added, but his words were interrupted by the sounds of howling. They all froze in their places.

  “What was that?” Henry asked, “it sounded like a…”

  “A wolf,” Ten said, “it very much is a wolf.”

  He looked at his company and understood that there was not a moment to lose.

  “Run!” He demanded.

  He began to run in a direction away from the howls and everyone followed after him as he heard the words of the Dream Lord ringing in his ears.

  “Run, Doctor! Run!”

  Chapter 8

  The Victor

  Nine and Clara joined the others as they looked out of the windows and beheld the underwater kingdom that belonged to the sea devils.

  “At first, sea devil was not their name,” he explained, “because they were just underwater Silurians, or a cousin race of them pretty much, but then one adventure, they got called that name and then it stuck.”

  “So, they are aliens?” Guy Fawkes asked.

  “No, actually. They are Earthlings.”

  “Earthlings?”

  “Yes, they are remnants of a bygone age, where lizards used to run the planet. There are many of them who have hibernated below the Earth, others have resorted to being underwater people. Living their lives in the deep caverns of the sea and oceans. The Silurians were more about living on land, and the Sea Devils are more aquatic-bound. That being said, even the term Silurian is somewhat inaccurate. The correct term for them really would be Eocenes.”

  “What are they doing down here?”

  “They are usually remaining below, waiting, biding their time.”

  “Time till they do what?” Clara asked.

  “Time till either the planet is prepared for them to live on again, or when they are strong enough to retake it.”

  “So, they could be planning an invasion.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time a species thought to do that. Yet this must be understood. The Silurians were a peaceful race initially, wise, noble and who sought coexistence. Before everything went south. Before some went bad.”

  “When was your first time in meeting them?” Emily asked.

  “It was hundreds of years ago. I was in my old man James Bond stage.”

  “How did that work out for you?” Virgil asked.

  “Not bad… actually it went as badly as it could have gone, but it wasn’t my fault, so there.”

  “So what is the plan?” Clara asked. “We need to find out what they are doing to the Earth.”

  “Yes, we do. Now I need to find an oxygen output system, because even lizards need to breathe.”

  He had the TARDIS scan the castle for it.

  “Why would you be looking for that?” Clara asked.

  “Because we need to find a way in, while also finding a bit of a distraction.”

  “Oh,” Clara realized, “you’re going to somehow disable their life support so that they will be focused on fixing it rather than looking for any intruders in their castle.”

  Nine winked at her.

  “You see, my plans are always simple, but effective.”

  “Are you sure, because it sounds a little too simple, don’t you think? Even if we do get inside, how can we hide your ship, and even if we do get on there undetected, something tells me that we look a lot different than your Silurian buddies.”

  “First of all, they are not my buddies.”

  “Figure of speech.”

  “Fair enough. And secondly, what do you mean by we?”

  “You don’t think that I’m going to let you go out there all on your own, right?”

  “Oh yes, you are.”

  “Well, no I’m not.”

  “I’m a governor.”

  “Over a place which has no jurisdiction over me.”

  “It’s still in your universe.”

  “I don’t know that, now do I?”

  “And these people? Hm, what will they do if I fall? Who is the one who is going to get them back?”

  Clara faltered and then she looked at the others.

  “You really trust me to be able to work your ship? I can’t even fly it.”

  “In desperate situations, she can assist you with that.”

  “Again, you haven’t answered the question. How will they not notice you?”

  “I’ve got something that I rarely use,” Nine said as he went around the dashboard and began to open some drawers. “It’s my last one left, so I figured that I would use it only when I absolutely needed to.”

  He reached around, found a hologram projector bracelet in the bag and then he placed it on his wrist. At first, there was no effect, but then his companions gave out a gasp and then stood back.

  “So, that’s what a sea devil looks like?” Mozart asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Could be worse and could be better.”

  Because of the projector, Nine fully appeared as if he was a sea devil.

  “Well,” he said, “if I’m going to use these for the last time, I had better make it count.”

  Nine then deliberately slammed his TARDIS into the life support systems of the castle, then flew his TARDIS away from the wreckage before they were detected. He found the parking garage to the kingdom and parked the TARDIS in it.

  “And if the TARDIS gets seen,” Commander Nestor noticed. “Forgive me, but something tells me that a large thing that says police box will stand out.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nine said, pressing a few buttons, “I’m going to put her on invisibility mode. That way, you shall be undetected. Just while I’m gone, don’t do anything funny or press any levers. As a matter of fact, everyone, try to stand as still as you all can.”

  “Huh?” Jeannette inferred.

  “Right, fine. It was a dumb request. So,” here he turned around and paraded in front of Clara. �
��How do I look?”

  “Well, I don’t want to come near you, so I’m assuming that you look great.”

  “Best that I could look.”

  “Governor… are you sure that there is no way that I could go with you? Can’t I at least have some sort of camera that you place on yourself so that I’m not sitting here and not knowing what’s going on out there.”

  “You called me governor again?”

  “Sorry, I meant John.”

  “Well, can I take this possessive attitude as a sign that you want me to be safe?”

  “You’re our ride home.”

  “Oh stop playing tough.”

  “Still, can’t I help in some way?”

  Nine groaned.

  “Fine.” He reached under his dashboard again and placed a small wire behind his ear, then gave Clara an eye piece. “Everything that I see through this wire, you shall be able to see. Are we good?”

  “And if you get into danger?”

  “Like I said, I’ve got a plan, nice and simple.”

  “Better be the right kind of simple.”

  “Always is,” he grinned.

  “Don’t grin at me with that face. It’s creepy. Wait till you get back to show me that we are becoming friends.”

  “Rodger that, mini-general.”

  Nine mocked a salute to her and then left them alone in the TARDIS.

  Clara made sure that her eye piece was working properly and then she watched everything that he did. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emily Bronte looking at her.

  “What?” Clara asked.

  “You are both fond of each other.”

  “What? No! I like my men more awkward looking.”

  “No, I meant you both are becoming comrades.”

  “Oh,” Clara smiled, “yes, I hope so.”

  Clara focused on the video and saw the Doctor, with all the appearance of a sea devil.

  “I wonder if he could hear me on this thing,” Clara said to the group.

  “Yes, I can,” she heard the Doctor say, “now shut up. Or I’ll get noticed.”

  “How could you hear me? This is an eye piece I’m wearing!”

  “It’s bigger on the inside.”

  “Typical.”

  

  Clara watched the Doctor as he continued to walk along and then eventually he began to come in contact with more sea devils. He gave them some sort of salute always, they walked on, unsuspecting. Eventually he came to another room that was full of sea devils that were working on a machine.

  “By the silver of the sonic!” He grunted under his breath.

  “John,” Clara whispered, “sorry, but what is that?”

  “It can’t be…”

  “Well clearly it can, so what is it?”

  “Clara, remember how I said that I met sea devils before?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, it was actually a long story. But to give you the brief version, I was captured by them and forced to help build a machine that would revive other sea colonies all around the world. Yet I sabotaged the machine, so once they worked it, massive power feedback from the sabotaged machine destroyed the sea devil colony.”

  “Then that means that they are not happy with you.”

  “No, they wouldn’t be. But still that is not the problem.”

  “What is… wait, Governor, is that the machine you built?”

  “Yes, and they’ve clearly got it working again.”

  Chapter 9

  The Clock Begins to Tick

  The light from the regeneration filled Eleven’s TARDIS as Twelve continued to hold onto him. Not knowing what was happening, Clara moved backwards and shielded herself from the light and Donna lay there, at first motionless. Yet the more that the two Timelords—who were really just the one Timelord—merged their energy with each other, Donna slowly began to move. The light that radiated out of them cast its rays on her and fed her weakened state. She began to breathe evenly and then one eye opened, and another.

  At last the energy became too great and both Timelords were hurled backwards and the light faded. Very quickly they came to, as Donna and Clara raised themselves up and looked around.

  “Doctor!” Clara cried.

  “Doctor!” Donna exclaimed.

  Both Timelords—who were really just one Timelord—stood up at the same time and inspected themselves. Both were in awe as they looked at their own hands and faces.

  There Twelve stood, completely intact.

  And there Eleven stood, whole and remaining the same.

  Eleven and Twelve—alive, existing, and stronger than ever.

  

  “I…” Eleven began.

  “Yes,” Twelve said simply.

  “What have you done?” Eleven gasped, “you are…”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What—what have you done?”

  “What we do. I saved a life. It’s not your time to go just yet. Because we needed to save someone.”

  “Who?”

  Twelve turned his gaze and Donna was behind him, whole and solid.

  “Donna?” Eleven asked.

  “What is going on?” Donna asked.

  “You are better now,” Twelve stressed, “we saved you.”

  “Is that another Timelord? You said that you all were gone, except for the Master. Is he—”

  “No, it’s me,” Twelve explained. “You flew with Ten, I am Twelve, and he came in between.”

  Donna looked on Eleven, who was too amazed to crack a joke.

  “You’re him?”

  “Yes,” Eleven voiced, and then he thought of Clara. He looked on Twelve with venom, “Where is Clara? Tell me Clara is fine!”

  “I’m here, Doctor,” Clara magnified, taking a few steps toward him. He turned to her and they looked at each other.

  “Clara.”

  “Doctor!”

  “My Clara!”

  They both rushed to each other, Eleven picked her up, spun her around and kissed her on her face desperately.

  “I thought I lost you!” She cried, “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “I am sorry,” he said, “I am so sorry and so very stupid.”

  As they remained holding each other, Twelve stood there and looked on them both. Donna remained behind him, and she watched as well. Twelve was frozen, not knowing how to feel about seeing his companion with his previous self. All the memories flooded back to him of when he was Eleven and how they both used to smile at each other. While Clara and him had eventually grown to bond to each other and connect, it was never fully in the precise way that they had when he had his Eleventh face. In that moment, he wondered if he should have let her go after he had regenerated and just let her live her life. Or was she truly happy with him as Twelve?

  Donna sauntered up to his side and saw his face of grief.

  “So, what are we looking at here?” She asked gently.

  “She was his companion first, then he regenerated into me, and then she became my companion. We got along well, but well, a person never forgets their first Doctor, I believe. Nor should they, I suppose.”

  Donna took in Twelve’s saddened expression, and looked on Eleven when he was with Clara. There was a beauty to the sight of them together.

  “Why didn’t you and him keep the same face, like you did when you were Ten?”

  “Because it’s not right to do so. It is always best to let things go, or nothing will ever get started. I wouldn’t be here if he did not embrace the concept that all things ought to die eventually. And I like being here. I like that the Doctor was me.”

  “I like that as well,” Donna offered her solace. Twelve continued to look at Eleven as he kissed Clara’s forehead again.

  “Donna, I feel…”

  Donna wrapped her arms around Twelve’s waist and Twelve wrapped his arm around her, holding her for support.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  

  “Now
tell me,” Eleven released Clara, while still holding her hand, “the question still must be asked, why am I here?”

  “What do you mean?” Clara asked, “you chose to stay, right?”

  Eleven’s gentle eyes turned to stone as he realized that he was about to let Clara down.

  “No, it is more complicated than that a bit,” Donna said, then she waved to Clara, “Hello I’m Donna. Donna Noble. And you must be Clara.”

  “Well, yes,” Clara said, “sorry, I’m very confused.”

  “Because this is a little confusing. I’m the Doctor’s companion from the past, when he was Ten, but then I ran into the Doctor’s future self, when he is Twelve, which he was just about to turn into just now, but then I was in danger from my mind exploding because I got spliced with Timelord DNA, so to save my life, the Doctor’s future self came here to the Doctor’s present self, which is Eleven, and did something that I don’t understand. But that’s because it hasn’t been explained to me yet. Sorry, but that was the best I could do.”

  Clara looked between Eleven and Twelve.

  “He is you?”

  “Yes,” Eleven answered simply.

  “And you are him?”

  “Yes,” Twelve spoke gently, “we shall go on to run together for a couple of years. You will become my companion.”

  “I will?”

  “Yes.”

  “But I…” Clara looked at Eleven, downhearted. “Then he’s the one that saved you now, and kept you from changing.”

  “Yes,” Eleven put simply.

  “He saved you, and not yourself. You were always going to change!”

  “Clara,” Eleven said, depressed, “I am so sorry. So very sorry, but all things must come to an end. Even me. I had to let go.”

  “You didn’t regenerate when you were Ten that time.”

  “I had unfinished business.”

  “You had unfinished business here, and it was our lives! We were friends!”

  “I know and I cherish it, Clara.”

  “No you don’t. You were going to allow yourself to die. You didn’t care anymore.”

  She rushed away and ran out of the command room. Eleven ran after her, then stopped, turned around and faced Twelve and Donna.

  “Did you treat her well?” Eleven asked.