Dark Labyrinth

((Closed to Brax and The 10th Doctor))

Braxien wandered through the busy streets of Planet Ontario 403, it was quite relaxing. Parks were spread across the planet and the red grass smelt quite lovely. It was a good break from the amount of time traveling, as he began feeling the side effects; not being able to tell the time and feeling quite space sick.

He popped into a shop and bought a large takeaway meal. Not the nicest but he was starving. There was a fountain nearby, so he went and sat down upon it. Aliens moved around him as he took a bite of his meal.

"Delicious…" He said.

He didn't notice an oncoming hover bike heading straight for him, it pulled up near and Brax soon felt a prick on the side of his shoulder. He dropped an arm, with the other balancing the meal.

Brax stood up to find out where the person/alien had gone but as he took a few steps, he stumbled. To the aliens around, it looked as if he were drunk, and so, avoided him.

"Hel…help…" His head was spinning and his view went increasingly fuzzy.

With that, he collapsed on the ground, his eyes flicking around him. His body was paralyzed, only his eyes could move.

The Doctor maneuvered about the marketplace on Ontario 403, his eyes dancing around the images of various foods and the vendors trying to sell them to him. Turning down vendor after vendor, The Doctor finally made his way into the center square of the marketplace, the shops lining the edges of the streets with cars hovering feet above the ground and buildings roaring into the sky. "How much i enjoy this place..." The Doctor mumbled, gazing up at the surrounding buildings, "I wonder why i don't come more often" but quickly that question was answered as the sound of a hover bike scatted across the ground, nearly hitting The Doctor. "Oi!" He exclaimed to the driver who kept on, not even glancing over his shoulder, "Don't mind me. I'm just walking" he grumbled under his breath as he turned with a sniff and immediately noticed a body sprawled across the ground.

Bolting over to the man, The Doctor knelt down next to him and quickly examined his vitals, "Vitals seem alright...." he mumbled, trying to wake the man with a shake, "Blimey...". Turning his head, The Doctor noticed several eyes pointing his way, forcing him to pick up the stranger and carry him off to his TARDIS.

Brax felt his whole body weight lift off the ground and he looked to the spiky haired man. He wanted to ask who was this man, but his body and his mouth was paralyzed. He had questions whizzing around in head but he would have to wait for his body to regain his senses.

Ontario 403 moved past him, aliens looking at him. He couldn't care less whether he was stared at like a rabid dog, he needed to find that person and understand his intention. Brax should have gone at the first 48 hours of being on the planet, that is why he never stayed in one place and the reason he gained his name; the Drifter of the seventh constellation. It would be more of a worthy name if his nose could stay out of trouble long enough, and if everyone knew the truth of his background.

Soon, the Law would still be on his trail again and he didn't want any other human to be in the crossfire when it happened. The Law was a ruthless bunch of aliens and the one that was after him, Tra-uk valis, was the most ruthless, the leader.

Another question struck his mind, Where am I going?

Inching his arm out from underneath Brax, The Doctor snapped his fingers causing the doors of his TARDIS to creak open just as they approached it. Walking through, The Doctor set Brax down on the jumper seat carefully before running back down to the doors and closing them then dashing back up to Brax. Flipping out his stethoscope, The Doctor placed the end right below Brax's heart and checked his pulse, "Pulse is fine...body seems to be paralyzed though...hmm" he mumbled to himself. Placing his stethoscope down on the edge of the control console, The Doctor bolted over and ravaged through a container section until coming up with a clear water bottle. Walking back over to Brax, The Doctor opened his mouth and poured a little bit of the water into his mouth, "Trust me, drink it. It's waters from the Flokor holy springs. Known to cure paralysis in victims within twenty four hours of infection. Unless my timing is completely off and it was four....or two..drink it any ways, you'l be fine".

Braxien saw the police box and the man snapped his fingers, the doors opened and if his jaw could have moved, it would have dropped to the ground. The box was bigger on the inside!

He then felt himself being lowered down to some sort of chair. The box…it's bigger…but…my head hurts…bigger on the inside...

Braxien had his mouth open and this man had said the waters were from a place called Flokor holy springs. He put it as a mental reminder to visit that place. The liquid was poured in his mouth.

He then felt a weird sensation in his foot, which he then realized it was pins and needles. He had a drop of water on the corner and his tongue flicked out to get it.

"Who…aree…y…you?" Braxien asked finally, his mouth almost back to full function.

"I'm The Doctor" The Doctor said quietly, squatting down in front of the man so he was just about eye level with him, "And i'm here to help. Trust me. Just stay calm..let the water work it's magic. Drink". Nodding, The Doctor turned his body and attention back to the control console, pulling over the scanner, "Now. Where was that abnormal glitch you showed me last time" he mumbled to the TARDIS, which responded with a beeping noise and a flashing red dot on the scanner, "No! Not that one, the other one". The TARDIS responded with a slight humming sound from the engines and a blue hue glowing from the scanner as it morphed the image into a lay out of the towns infrastructure, "Ah! There we are!" The Doctor exclaimed, now happy with his machines work as he flipped on his glasses and adjusted a dial, extending his left arm to do the action while his eyes were fixed on the screen.

Braxien watched the man come down to eye-level with him. Throughout most of his travels, he had never come across anything that was claimed to been magic, apart from the time some shifty vendor sold him a vial of liquid, saying it was magic.

Soon enough, Braxien felt all his senses come back to him. He jumped up and hopped around the console, his face changing from pain to a slight grimace and back to a shocked expression. He didn't expect the liquid to actually...work.

"Pins and needles! I hate when that happens, can you even get pins n needles from paralysis?" Braxien said out loud. He continued to hop around on one foot waiting for the pain in his foot to die down a bit. "That's not the point…who was that guy or alien? Oh and what century are we in, time travel does things to you…"

He walked around, back on two feet around the console, his eyes full of curiosity as he glanced from the console to The Doctor and back to the glowing pillar in front.

Wonder whether he is a medical man or a fellow time traveller…but he's human. Snap out of it! You've met some other humans, you know you aren't the last one.

"Yeah, yeah. But it's still surprising…" Braxien muttered to himself.

The Doctor peered over his shoulder at the man as he rose up from his sitting position for the first time sense being attacked on the street, "How should i know? I wasn't there..mind you, i was a little bit a way trying to escape a persistent fruit seller, but still! Never saw who attacked you or what happened" he replied with a sniff at the end, "Just saw you laying on the ground and from your appearance i would say you are a......time hopper. Well..i call them time hopper's, good friend Captain Jack was just like you. Using a vortex manipulator are we? Hopping from time to time through space are we?". Walking around Brax, The Doctor scrutinized him before flipping his glasses off and putting them away then walking back up to the control, "We're in the 29th Century..Ontario 403 i think. Not exactly a stab you in the arm with a needle and paralyze you type planet but none the less, it happened to you....and i wonder why" his voice trailed off as he turned his attention once more to the scanner.

"Well, time traveller, yes. My uncle and aunt worked for a company making teleportation devices. The thing is, it never really works." Braxien said. "29th century…hover bikes…"

According to his memory and the last time he had visited a planet in the 29th century, hover bike were just in planning stages.

"Captain Jack?" Braxien knew the name sounded familiar. "My uncle knew him a while back, never really talked much but they had a drink in a bar and then went their separate ways. Anyway, you're a Doctor of what, exactly? Is it just a nickname?"

Braxien knew a fair bit about nicknames, although it never really helped out in real life. From 23rd century, they had started calling him The Drifter. Mainly because he never stayed rooted in one place, although these days, he was starting to enjoy relaxing on planets and not suffering from time difference.

"Which way did the bike go?" Braxien asked, popping his head out of the door and looking around.

The Doctor smirked as he pressed a few more buttons on the control console, "Yeah. That's how Jack meets a lot of his friends" he commented before looking up to respond to Brax's last question. Rubbing the back of his head, The Doctor walked nonchalantly down the ramp and stood by him as he too peered out of the doors, "I don't know" he mumbled, "It just jetted off..and how painful would you say was the needle pinch? Hard, soft? Bad, good? Well..it's never good is it?" he chuckled. Scrutinizing the area where Brax was hit with the needle, The Doctor rubbed his chin before flipping out his sonic screwdriver and scanning the area, "And it's just The Doctor. Doctor of...wibbly wobbly..timey wimey..stuff if you must know. And yes, that is an actual thing".

Taking a step back, The Doctor turned his attention back to the control console where he inserted his sonic screwdriver and pulled over the scanner, "Sometimes, very few times, the needle will break off into your arm. Tiny fragments and if, if! I can get those fragments out then i can figure out their composition and from that, find out where it came from. During this time, there aren't many needle making companies, so tracking where it came from can be easy..and difficult at the same time...".

Braxien never really thought about the needle until the Doctor had brought it up again. "It hurt, that was for certain."

He watched the Doctor pull out a long silver object, which lit up blue at the tip and he began scanning him with the device. Braxien raised a finger and pointed to the sonic object. "What's that? A sonic what-not…anyway, I am pretty sure that companies in the 29th century have data chips? They also have a--hang on…what do I have in my pocket?"

Braxien fiddled around with the object in his pocket, attempting to find out what it was before pulling it out and having a look. He used his other hand to push up the nose bridge of the glasses, which were slowly falling down.

The thing in his pocket emanated deep hues, it looked similar to a small crystal, he didn't notice the amount of heat that it was giving off until he dropped it.

"Ouch! What the hell is that thing?" Braxien exclaimed, wringing his hand. "That person or alien must've put it in my pocket when he needle-pricked me!"

"What?" The Doctor asked as he peered back over to Brax just as he dropped the crystal with a thud onto the ramp floor. Immediately interested and intrigued, The Doctor bolted over and quickly fell down to eye length with the small crystal, gazing at it through his glasses, "oooh! Aren't you beautiful" he mumbled with a grin. "I think..you're being tracked Brax" The Doctor concluded, glancing up at Brax for a moment before looking back down to the crystal and reach back into his pocket and flipping out a small light brown cloth. Picking up the crystal, The Doctor held it up to the light to get a better look, "Sure is giving off a lot of heat." he commented, turning it counter clockwise as he spoke, "Tell you what. That means it's using a lot of power. Which in turn means this little baby is running at its near full capacity....question is...capacity for what?".

Raising an eyebrow, The Doctor looked over to Brax, "Tell me Brax, what were you doing on Ontario? Anyone you think would want to kill you? Or better yet, know where you are..what you're doing...." he paused as he glanced down to the crystal, "Know who you're talking to".

Braxien watched the Doctor pick up the crystal, mumbling to himself. Braxien rocked back on his heels and waited for an analysis of the object.

He saw the Doctor look at him for a moment. "Tracked? Who would want to track--no…"

Braxien backed off slightly, he had a slight clue to who it was but it wasn't like them to put tracking devices, considering that he had a mark from them. Braxien looked from his stomach, back to the Doctor.

"Can't you track the heat signature? Not to the person but to like, the power source?" Braxien asked. "Is this item forbidden?"

Braxien responded the raised eyebrow with a stare, yeah, in the future you are a criminal but he couldn't know about it.

"Ontario is like a bus stop, quite relaxing as I travel extensively. I used to have some aliens that were out to kill me but they've…stopped. I don't exactly know who would be after me, I just don't have the foggiest. The crystal, could it have been for something else? Maybe it slipped from one pocket to another and was meant for someone else?" Braxien took a breath, rushing down the ramp and looking out the door.

The Doctor rose an eyebrow, looking at Brax as he rushed down the ramp and peered out of the doors as if making sure nobody was spying on them or listening in on their conversation. Standing up straight, The Doctor sniffed and tossed the crystal up and down in his hand, the crystal already starting to cool down, "There something you're not telling me?" he called down to him, "I don't know, you seem kind of...jittery. An jitters come from fear...the worry that someone is outside of those doors you don't want to be". Catching the crystal with one final swipe of his hand, The Doctor hopped down to the ramp and stood at the edge, looking down at Brax, "Right now we've got a crystal on board of my ship. A crystal, i personally, haven't the faintest idea what it does. Now if there's something you know that i should then you better tell me. The more information i have, the faster i can figure out what this does and more to the point...why the man did that he did to you".

"237.451.235.34, coordinates. I think that would explain it…is it possible to go and change your future?" Braxien said, avoiding eye contact.

Braxien sat himself down on the floor, not bothering to take the pilot seat, as he believed that the Doctor was most likely to abandon him once he finds out what he had done.

"There is this race of aliens, The Law, they came for Earth from Jupiter, took everything. I went to their planet on a request to…" Braxien waved a hand, dismissing the conversation.

Braxien rolled up his sleeve and was surprised to find numbers appeared on the exact spot to where the needle had gone in: 236.456.235.27: 7.00.

"Doctor!" Braxien got up off the floor, nearly walking in to a column. "Nearly the same coordinates, its the Dark Labyrinth, the place where The Law's previous ruler had been killed and where all the new Law's have to pass the test by navigating to their leader."

The Doctor worked over the information that Brax bled into the situation, his eyes trailing off into the corners of his TARDIS control room before Brax shot over to him, immediately catching his attention as Dark Labyrinth rang through his ears. The Doctor peered over to Brax and grinned, "Now that sounds like a wonderful place to visit!" he exclaimed with a sudden happiness as he spun a crack counter clockwise and thrust down the main lever, "Brax!! Get over here and type in your coordinates!" he shouted over the sound of the TARDIS roaring through the time vortex, "Woohoo! Faster! Faster!!!". Jumping around the control console chaotically, The Doctor held on tightly as he pumped a lever several times, every pump cycle making the TARDIS spin faster through the time vortex, "We're going to burst through that time vortex! Allons-y! Ha!".

Braxien raised his eyebrows in confusion but his lips soon became a large smile, the Doctor was an odd man, similar to a puppy when it got too overexcited. The Doctor had said to type in the coordinates, so he did. It was difficult as he was being thrown up and down but he finally typed it in.

"Does it always do this?" Braxien yelled, his legs swinging around wildly.

He, in fact, enjoyed this way of time traveling. It made it more fun and exciting, with all the hyper enthusiasm from the Doctor. Another idea had popped into his head, just maybe, he had an alternate self, who had gone there and somehow the memory of him…had drifted back into his world.

You've gone mad, completely out of your mind. There is no such things as alternate dimensions! 'That's what they all say, but these days, I am not too sure…' Braxien thought to himself.

"What's the Time vortex?!" Braxien's hand slipped, so he yelped slightly as he tried to swing his hand back onto the rail he was clutching for dear life. "This is EPIC!"

The Doctor peered over to Brax and grinned just before one final thrust echoed the arrival of the TARDIS into the labyrinth, the wooden frame on the outside keeping firm as it crashed forcefully through brick walls before finally sliding to a stop beside a wall. Gazing up at the time rotor, The Doctor smiled then dropped the smile once he turned his head and attention over to Brax, "We're here" he told him in a lower toned voice as he stood up straight slowly. The doors creaked open at the snap of The Doctor's fingers, the dark atmosphere of the labyrinth creeping onto the ramp of the TARDIS. The light from the control console fought off the oncoming darkness from the labyrinth, it was as though a battle for supremacy was occurring inside of the TARDIS while a far greater threat loomed from the outside. "Ready?" The Doctor finally asked, breaking the silence as he peered over to the man, his eyebrow raised in curiosity before his attention shifted to the realm standing past the two wooden blue doors.

Releasing a sigh, The Doctor strode down the ramp, snagging his trench coat as his body broke the line of light and entering into the dark. With light becoming immediately sparse in the atmosphere of the labyrinth, The Doctor flipped out his flash light, pulling it from deep within his pockets and clicking it on to give him a few feet of visibility. "Nothing but walls" The Doctor called back to Brax, glancing over his shoulder for a split second as he fit his arm through the sleeve of his trench coat, "You said there were obstacles within this maze...exactly what obstacles?".

"Well…manticores, the odd swinging axe, a few mutant crocs, flashing lights, caving in rooftops--" Braxien threw himself to the doctor as, at that moment, the roof collapsed. "Lots of other things, I'm not sure, it was a while since I had been here and they could have changed it around."

Braxien picked himself up and extended a hand to help the Doctor back to his feet. "Oh, I forgot to say, basically, they test the newborn with every weather extremity there is in the whole universe that they could get their hands…claws on."

He looked around, there was a sweet scent emanating from somewhere in front of them, it smelt of cherries and freshly cut grass. Without thinking, he walked forward.
THUNK!
He slammed into a wall. "Well, that wasn't there when I smelt it, do you smell it, Doctor?"

Sounds started up and Braxien could recognize the slithering hisses of The Law, the sound was getting closer before it stopped. Braxien hugged the wall tightly, it was a bad idea turning up.

"L45, bring him to me, I've been waiting so long for this moment…" Said a voice.

Braxien glanced around and managed to catch a glimpse of a figure being escorted to whoever the voice belonged to. "Should we follow?"

The Doctor listened intently to the response of Braxton before he was knocked over by the very man who was speaking. With a grunt, The Doctor hit the ground and the flashlight went rolling across the cold, hard, metal floor. Shaking his head with a smirk, The Doctor accepted the helping hand of Braxton then later made his way over to the flashlight and picked it up, his ears keenly listening to the words of Braxton and his nose quick to pick up on the scents he was speaking about. "Yeah..smells like..fruit" He mumbled a reply as he stood up straight, his finger finding the button for the flashlight and turning it back on, giving him a few more feet of visibility. However, once Braxton brought to attention the figures off in the distance, The Doctor quickly turned the flashlight off and made his way to the side of Braxton, his eyes squinting to get a better look at the figures. "Yes" He whispered a reply, "If this maze is as dangerous as you say it is then we need to avoid as many of the traps or challenges as possible. And the only ones who know exactly what is up next is the people who made it". Glancing over to Braxton, The Doctor handed him the flashlight, his eyes set on the figures before they walked out of view, "Here, take my torch. If we need it we can use it but until then, keep the light to a low. The last thing we need is letting them know we are shadowing them".

Cautiously following after the figures, The Doctor slowly turned the corner, his shoes turning to the side just before hitting the ground to limit the sound emitted from the metal ground. However, upon taking his third cautious step, The Doctor noticed something; peering down to the ground, The Doctor squat down and brushed the flooring, "Brax, don't take another step" he hissed back to Brax, standing up straight as he spoke, "This entire place carries sound like a spiderweb. They've ridged the floor to bounce the sound off of the walls then up into the air...much easier for them to figure out where you are based on the sounds you make". Turning back to Brax, The Doctor rose an eyebrow, "What is the physical make-up of The Law?" he questioned, his mind working together all of the details to get a possible solution to this multi-problematic maze before them.

He halted in his tracks, Braxien slowly placed his foot back down on the ground as he used his jacket to cover the torch-light.

"Technically, the Law are shape shifters. When I had met them, they had taken human form to find out more about our race. But in actual fact, they have large axe like arms, which too can change. Blades cover around half of their body and…their mouth…hmmm." Braxien crossed his arms, his eye drifted upwards.

It was difficult to remember as it was seemingly a long time ago when he had encountered them. "But…they are vicious. I've seen them in a few years where they've managed to eat entire planets."

Braxien looked at the two disappearing figures, they looked familiar. Too familiar. He then proceeded to take off his shoes and carry them in his hands. "D'you think that socks will muffle the sound slightly?"

The Doctor pondered Braxton's reply deeply before looking back over to him, shrugging slightly, "Maybe. Whatever we can do to stop the sound from getting to them the better" he replied. Without taking another second to think about what he should do, The Doctor quickly bent over, untied then flipped off his shoes. Holding both pairs in one hand, The Doctor slid back to the corner room where the TARDIS was located and rolled them across the floor and back to the TARDIS doors. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, come on" He whispered to Braxton as he passed him in the hallway and began his sliding march back after the figures. The hissing sounds from the creators became more prominent as they got closer and soon, the voices became apparent and clear. "Take this one into the first holding cell" One growled, "Something new broke into the labyrinth a few minutes ago..we need to go check it out before our prey crawls away". The Doctor kept his distance from the figures as he listened in on their conversation, his brown socks scooting across the floor with very little, if no, sound at all.

As The Doctor got closer to the figures, their blades became more apparent, along with their axe like arms Brax had depicted just moments before. The light from a illuminating viewing station located above gave just enough light for the creatures features to be seen, along with several traps off to the side. "Watch the traps...they seem to be trigger by weight" The Doctor warned Brax in a whispering tone as he scooted close to the wall to his left, keeping away from the right side where most of the traps had been set.

Braxien swallowed heavily, sweat was shining on his forehead and his hand shook violently.

Braxien followed the Doctor's orders and looked down at his brown socks and back up to the glinting blades belonging to The Law.

"Um, Doctor…I think we've got a slight hiccup." Braxien gulped, barely wanting to take his eyes away from the blades pointed straight at him.

"How did you escape? I had just locked you up…" The Law said, it's eyes narrowing dangerously.

Braxien's fight or flight senses had set in and it was mostly wanting to throwing a punch. Without thinking, his hand raised and went in for a punch. The Law's arm had transformed into a hand and grabbed it. It spun Braxien around and held him in a tight headlock.

To the Doctor, it said, "Follow or he dies. He seems to have picked up a friend on the way..."

The Doctor slowly turned around, his bodily language still in caution mode before the form of The Law shined before his eyes. Raising up both of his hands, The Doctor obeyed The Law's command, "Alright. Alright. There's no need to kill him" he said gently, "I will follow you. But only if you let him go from that headlock. You can take both of us with you. What better than two dangerous fugitives and future dinner platters..won't be half as good if one of them is dead before hand hmmm". The Law eyed The Doctor, glaring at him for a moment before releasing Brax with a snarl, "Follow me. Both of you". The Doctor nodded and turned his attention to Brax as The Law took two steps forward, slowing its pace each step until he heard both Brax and The Doctor following him, "You alright?" The Doctor asked Brax, beginning to follow The Law as he spoke.

Glancing around at the walls around him as he followed The Law, The Doctor smirked, "Well...this is one way of getting inside" he said trying to lighten the mood, "At least now we won't have to worry about the traps".

Braxien sighed slightly, "Fine…yeah."

He walked down, the Law in front. He didn't like being captured considered he had been captured once before by them. He glanced around, darkness only parted by a green emitting light from the Law. It had not said anything after their capture.

"Getting inside, check. But…I don't exactly know how we are going to manage against…their leader as…" Braxien let his trail of thought pin point to what he was talking about.

"Braxien…I thought you had been thrown into the cells along with your buddy, Talia." Hissed their leader.

Braxien smirked, "Guess again, Chocnar. May I possibly see myself, please?"

Chocnar rose out of it's throne and advanced towards Brax, it's shadow covering his whole body. It pointed behind him and the two figures seen earlier stumbled out.

Braxien furrowed his brow, it wasn't right. He hadn't come with Talia and she had died previously in a Battle of the Thames, 2021.

"You're not me, who are you?" Braxien growled, pointing his finger at his duplicate. He didn't reply, Talia looked down to her feet.

"This is your parallel self." She said.