Times Collapse

((Closed to Emma and Myself))

The TARDIS engines groaned with all its greatness and triumph as the infamous machine landed on its destination. With one loud prolonged creak, the left door opened and out peered the head of The Doctor. A grin flashing across his face as he stepped out.

In front of him stood an outstretched bridge to a central console, around them stood hundreds of screens, each showing different things. Majority of them were concerts and music from across the universe, but a few showed comic videos and crime statistics. All of which spun around the centered control console, stopping every few seconds before going again. "I promised the best concert in the universe, well i gave you them all!" He called back to Emma as he walked out to the control console.

Activating it, he glanced up then back down, working the controls until finally able to get a 2018 concert on the screen that came out to them and shot out a bridge to them. "Oops hang on...a few years too far" The Doctor mumbled, hitting a different button and another screen flew down before resting on the bridge out to it, "Welcome to the Time Sphere...created by The Overseer a few eons ago...he used it to control everything he could possible. Using time fluctuation metrics, the screens act as a portal to whatever is on the opposite side. So he was able to be in two places at the same time sort of speak...now it just acts as an asset to the Shadow Proclamation" he stopped for a sniff as he looked over to Emma, "And us now".

"Well" The Doctor sniffed, "You cant be in two places at once but with the use of these portals, he could make it to where he could be one planet then be on the next in a one second difference. Making it appear there were two of him...maybe even three". Looking back down to the control panel, he continued to fiddle with the controls until red flashing lights appeared on the screen and an alarm began to roar throughout the complex. The Doctor stepped back from the controls, "I didn't do anything i swear" he mumbled, kicking the machine resulting in an immediate stop in alarms and flashing lights.

"Hmmm..that was a bit weird" He grumbled as he approached the controls once more and checked over the systems, "Everything seems alright....scans say it picked up something in the space time continuum...just for a second...one second of chaos". After a moment of thought, he turned back to Emma, "Sorry...the Overseer? Right yes! He..umm..he was a Time Lord like me. Tasked by the high council on my planet to watch over the stars...and handle the deadliest of war prisoners on his own planet in a pocket universe. Easy to get to...practically impossible to get out. Well...i did i once...but..i'm...me". He finished with a grin and turned back to the controls, his mind and attention still fixed on the case behind the alarms.

The Doctor grinned at the thought of him and Emma investigating the cause behind the alert, his mind falling back to when he first met her in Washington, "I can't help but want to see" he replied, "Oh and..the pocket universe just think of it like a series of bubbles outside of sheets of paper stacked up against each other. Those stacks of paper is our universe and all the parallel ones, the bubbles floating on the outside are the pocket universes. And sometimes they hover over and bump into our universe..just seconds of interaction, that's when things can transfer over..when things can be saved and tucked away until it comes back around".

Just as The Doctor finished, the console roared once more, this time extending a bridge out to a screen that hovered down to the edge of the extension. The Doctor peered from the console then to the screen with slightly widened eyes and a curious mind, "I've got a feeling we're meant to go there" he mumbled. Walking out towards the screen, The Doctor stopped and scrutinized the image wavering out in front of him. The image of a space ship, the image of a hallway inside of a space ship to be exact. "I've always wondered how this worked.." The Doctor mumbled, walking out to stand in front of the screen and extending his hand out. Touching the screen with his index finger resulted in a wave that echoed through the screen as if it were made of water. Water that patiently waited for The Doctor to pass through it and enter into a new world of opportunity and danger. How can i resist The Doctor thought before walking through; one moment feeling the waves of the portal pass over him and the next an overwhelming feeling of heat and static. He was inside of the ship.

Looking around, The Doctor loosened his tie, trying to press down the microwave sensation he was having as he listened to Emma begin to ask questions. "Well...we're on the ship" He replied, mumbling back to her as he scrutinized the steaming pipes that ran down the corner of the roof and the wall of the hallway, "Where we are..or when we are for that matter..we'l find out when we reach the bridge. Hopefully" he finished. Turning around to Emma, The Doctor flashed a reassuring half heart grin before looking down the hallway and proceeding forward with his hands placed nonchalantly in his pockets.

Unfortunately his journey was quickly thwarted by a three way intersection at the end of the hallway, the path splitting off into three different directions, all leading off into different sections of the ship. Looking once more at the pipes at the corners of the wall and roof to his right, The Doctor began to deduce where to go, "Well the pipes lead to the engine room of the ship...more than likely...which leaves two options. Em-" but before he could finish, an aggravated yell echoed through the ship.

Without a further thought, The Doctor raced down the hallway on his left, passing a few doors before reaching a door at the end of the hallway. One that immediately hissed open for him, revealing the cockpit of the ship where one pilot sat in the pilots seat, his hands flailing around the controls. In front of them hovered a dozen elongated black ships, ones that The Doctor recognized as Judoon ships at the first second upon spotting them. Suddenly the ship jerked forward as shots from the ships roared overhead, "What's going on and how can i help?" The Doctor asked, jumping into the co-pilots seat next to the man. "How did you get on my ship?!" The pilot exclaimed wide eyed, glaring at The Doctor then back at Emma where his facial expression immediately shifted to flirtatious, "And who is your friend?" he asked before another jerk from the ship reverted his attention back to the controls. "I'm in a bit of a tight bind with the Shadow Proclamation and they have a price on my head" The pilot replied to The Doctor, flipping a few switches in front of him, "And now i have to get through their blockade before they magnetize the ship and board me", "What did you do to anger them?!" The Doctor responded, "There's no time! If you want to help, pull down that lever and have your girlfriend man the auto turrets!", "She's not my girl-" the ship jerked forward again, this time releasing sparks and more steam from the sides.

The pilot flung his hands up at Emma's reply, becoming even more nervous when he heard her speak about the FBI, "Oh great! Now we've got radical trinity supporters...wait hold on..did you said FBI? As in Earth FBI? You've gotta be like the last one left, i'm so sorry for your loss". Before the pilot could continue his reply to Emma, the ship jerked forward and the lights flickered off then slowly back on. The pilot slammed his fist against the console, "Blast!" he proclaimed, "Just a few more light years and i could have supplied to rebellion with enough fuel to get us by another year but you just had to go blabbering off! Now they've got us in a magnetic clamp and are reeling us in".

The Doctor arched his eyebrow and glared at the pilot as he sighed and glanced over to him, "Oh..." he mumbled, peering back to Emma then back to The Doctor, "You two really don't know? I mean you look human, if that's the case then you must have came from station six..unless your time lords". Taken back at the man's knowledge, The Doctor leaned forward, "How do you know about the Time Lords?" he asked him, "Everyone knows who they are...their the destroyers of Earth". Outside the ship, the vessel slowly drifted back, visually looking as if it were running away from the other ships out in front until the edges of the Judoon ship came into view from the sides.

Sighing, the pilot braced himself and turned to The Doctor and Emma, "About a couple hundred years or so there was peace in the galaxy...that was until what we call The Wave hit. To this day noone knows what it was...but it roared through space as long as the eye can see. Earliest known reports say that some people were picked up off the group and jetted away like being sucked through a vacuum. After that, the skies above Earth burned orange...Gallifrey and the Time Lords had arrived...it's gravity began to pull Earth apart over the years...until Earth was no more. Time Lords, Rutons and Shadow Proclamation make up the trinity...and what's left of the free universe make up the rebellion. Something i was trying to supply before you got on board my ship!". The Doctor just sat there, trying to process everything the pilot had said, "I've heard that before" he mumbled, "The Wave...i've heard that before....i long time ago".

Suddenly the ship shuddered as it docked in the Judoon ship; knocks echoed from the back, "Better get back there..before they blast my door down" the pilot commented, pushing off of the seat and walking out of the cockpit. Following numbly after him, The Doctor got up and left the cockpit, hands in his pockets and head lowered as his mind raced over the details just provided for him, "Something isn't right" he mumbled as he passed Emma, hoping she would hear, "This universe wasn't here before...i've been to this time period none of this happened. History has been rewritten...in a huge way...and i've got a feeling it started with this...wave".

"No, not prisoners. Not if i can help it" The Doctor mumbled a reply to Emma as he stopped behind the pilot as he activated the ramp to descend onto the docking bay floor. With a hiss, the ramp pushed out from the wall and folded down onto the metal floor beneath it, allowing the trio to exit the ship and be immediately welcomed by four Judoon, their weapons extended outwards. "Mofo koro, jolo" The one in the center roared, "Mofoholo coroflaka....maho.." The Doctor roared back, their weapons immediately were put away, their forms moving away for a Shadow Architect to approach. Scrutinizing the three, she paused for a moment then commented, "Not many know the language of the Judoon...besides my species, only the Time Lords would know. And before me stands the most infamous of them all...The Doctor. Destroyer of the reality bomb..well done by the way".

The Doctor's face kept cold and calm as he replied, "You wanted a war..you couldn't get it then so you've got one now", "This was not our desire...the wave destroyed much of the universe..we are trying to pull it back together..or what's left of it. Only by chance do you arrive now in our moment of need Doctor...and i'm not letting you escape this time". The pilot glared at The Doctor, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the man beside him, "You're a Time Lord?! Hmph..and to think, i called you a human. Disgusting, i rather die than fight along side you...Doctor" he spat. "You have a choice Doctor...come with me or be tossed in a containment cell with him.." The Architect proclaimed, a smirk rising on the edge of her lips as The Doctor took one last look at the pilot then walked towards the Judoon and the Architect.

Two Judoon strode over to Emma and the pilot, one grabbing each before The Doctor called back, "She comes with me and is not to be harmed..those are my conditions". The Architect's eyes paced between The Doctor and Emma for a moment before gesturing the Judoon to let Emma go then turning and walking away; The Doctor followed. Roars of the pilot could be heard echoing through the docking bay as The Doctor walked with the Judoon and the woman, his mind flashing back to his Eight Incarnations interaction with Tess before he was killed in the crash. How she reacted when she found out he was a Time Lord. It's like the Time War all over again...

The Doctor sniffed, placing his hands into his pockets once more to stop from showing the overwhelming amount of nervousness he was having at the moment as he followed the Shadow Architect. "They're the Shadow Proclamation...well...intergalactic police if you'd like. She is the Shadow Architect, she directs the Proclamations attention to certain things and decides what they do and when. They head honcho" He began to reply to Emma, "A while back....my people..the Time Lords fought against a species called the Daleks...and they nearly lost. Until i saved them...placed them into a pocket universe to save them....to most of the universe...and myself for a time..i thought they all died. And i'm the last. Well...still sort of am...but not quite at the same time if that makes sense. This lot know this...they've got all the files on me from my over two thousand year life..they want me to fight with them...to stop another war".

The Architect stopped at a door just as The Doctor finished speaking, "You're half right Doctor" she called back, gesturing for the Judoon to leave them before opening the door by placing her palm on a DNA scanner on the side of the door. With a hiss, the door opened revealing a lone table with a computer in front of it, a holographic projection showing, what The Doctor knew as the Medusa Cascade. "From your resume you'd be the only one alive that could help us" The Architect told them, walking over to the table, "In front of you is the Medusa Cascade..where we have tracked the origin of what has been called..the wave..we need someone to go in there and find out what it is and possibly stop it before it happened. Doctor..the universe is at it's brink..we need you more than ever".

The Doctor quickly covered Emma's lips with his hand before she could comment on where he had left his infamous time machine, grinning he chuckled, "Sorry...my friend. She's a bit dazed and confused from the bumpy ride. Mind if i go talk to her...in private real quick? Sort of need her help if i'm going in there". The architect nodded and walked out of the room, her eyes glaring at Emma as she passed by her. Once he knew that the architect wasn't in ear length of him or Emma, The Doctor turned his attention to his companion and eyed her carefully.

"Time can be rewritten Emma" The Doctor began to explain, "All those times i've gone back in time, i affect what happens. The human race could end in 1983 if i didn't stop something during that time...or i was never there to stop this wave from happening.". He stopped as he began to think more deeply about the situation that was engulfing everything around him, "This is the reality where i don't stop the wave...where i don't stop my people from coming back and Earth is destroyed because of it. But this can change..this doesn't have to be real..we can still fix it." he stopped as he looked over to the image of the medusa cascade, "We have to fly into darkness....".

Suddenly, a familiar sound began to echo throughout the room. The sound of the TARDIS engines, the triumphant groaning roaring and calling out to the duo as it slowly appeared on the opposite side of the table. The Doctor grinned, "She heard us" he mumbled, the sound of the architect could now be yelling from down the hallway, "Doctor!!!!". Quickly taking Emma's hand, The Doctor bolted over to the TARDIS and opened the doors. Letting her go first, The Doctor stood to the side as he peered back to the architect who just now entered the room, "Don't you dare" she hissed, "Emma!!.....Allons-y!!" The Doctor proclaimed. Turning he entered his time machine and closed the doors behind him. The TARDIS, in the blink of an eye sat in the room, the next it hovered at the edge of the Medusa Cascade, it's light blinking slowly as it's pilot loomed over its controls and stared at the screen in front of him.

The Doctor released a sigh, stood up straight and placed his hands into his pockets, "Well..." he started, "While you and the architect were busy focusing on me and my ramble, i organized a little plan. He would give a good enough distraction for me to activate my sonic's distress signal to the TARDIS...once she picked it up, she would track it down and appear to it's location. He agreed as long as i fixed time...as long as i fixed this war". After pausing for a moment to think, The Doctor continued with a gesture to the scanner and the image it held, "Emma...this is the Medusa Cascade..i haven't been here in hundreds of years....since i was just starting out..ninety years old i was. When i first ran..well...it'd be thousands now..still".

Walking down the ramp, The Doctor opened both of the doors, revealing the swirl of colors that together collectively made the Medusa Cascade. To countless civilizations, this simply stood as another constellation or nebula, but to the ones that knew, this stood for so much more. "Legend has it that in the center of the Cascade lays the secret to time....a rift in time and space...a gap in the fabric of reality" The Doctor mumbled, glancing back to Emma before looking back out to the view of the cascade, "It means let's go...in french...Emma...it means let's go".

"Well...." The Doctor mumbled, cocking his head to the side as he thought about her question, "Technically yes. But! There are major consequences...my friend...my friend Rose tried that while she traveled with me. She tried to save her dad...when she did time began to fix itself through inter-dimensional beings called Reapers...they consumed the life force of others to make up for the change. In the end her dad still died....he let himself get hit to save the universe...".

The Doctor paused for a moment as his mind began to flash back to that time before he snapped out of his gaze with a sniff and a glare down to Emma, "Why do you ask anyways?" he asked her, closing the doors and turning his attention to the controls. "Don't think you can go wondering about stopping things from happening" He warned her as he strolled up the ramp, "Trust me...i know. Time has a way of correcting itself..sometimes its just better to keep it the way it is. Besides! Without those bad times we become someone else..who didn't experience those things. Every single moment carved the person you are now, change it...and you never know who you come out to be".