[IC] Behind the Eight Ball (with ladyonyx04)

[Kaga]

“Oh no… not again!!” The Eighth Doctor’s voice echoed through his TARDIS console room, the entire vessel shaking furiously as it made its way through a rather rough flight. Struggling to remain standing through all the turbulence, the Doctor worked away madly at the TARDIS controls, hitting countless levers and switches in an attempt to fix whatever problem was present. Strangely, though, the controls seemed completely unresponsive. “Come on, what’s wrong?” the Doctor asked his time machine, his voice half-frustration and half-concern as he banged his hand against the console. The TARDIS offered no helpful response, however, and with one final, strong jolt of motion and a shower of sparks from the console, the Doctor was thrown to the ground as the entire system seemed to shut down, with all the lights flickering off as everything went still.

“Have… have we landed?” the Time Lord spoke to an empty console room, eyes still adjusting to the relative darkness as he pulled himself up off the floor. “Where even are… …oh no.” he cut himself off as he came to his senses about the situation, rushing over to the now dark console and placing his hands on it. “Come on then, wake up.” he commanded, his eyes scanning the machine restlessly for any sign of activity or life. “Wake up.” he repeated himself, voice growing in concern. A few more seconds went by without any response, and the Doctor’s worrying peaked. “WAKE UP!” he yelled, pounding his fist on the console. A moment later, the quiet hum of life in the machine could be heard again as the lights flickered back on. He gave a loud sigh of relief. “Don’t scare me like that, girl…” he spoke to his TARDIS, running his fingers gently over the console. He took another deep breath before attempting to re-rail his train of thought from earlier. “Now then… where are we?” he asked aloud, turning on the TARDIS scanner. He couldn’t get any sort of image, though, as the screen was covered with static. His eyes narrowed, perplexed, and he realized that something still felt… off, about his dear TARDIS. Sure, thankfully she wasn’t dead, at least, but she still seemed somewhat… sick. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, voice full of genuine concern as his eyes scanned the console for any sign of a mechanical problem…

And while the Doctor was too concerned with his box to so much as poke his head outside to figure out where the two of them had landed, it turned out that the TARDIS at least hadn’t landed in some horrible tear in the fabric of space-time or anything — rather, it had safely landed in early 21st century Britain, the unmistakable wheezing sound signature to the Doctor’s TARDIS announcing its presence as the blue box materialized on a city street corner in London. …Well, alternate-universe London, anyway.

[ladyonyx04]

Rose Marion Tyler woke up slowly taking a deep breath and letting it out. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily as she sat up in her bed hugging her knees to her chest. It had been fourteen days since Doomsday as her mum and Pete had called it. Pete was her dad's name. But in her universe he had died getting hit by a car. In this universe, the one she was stuck in, he lived and became a successful inventor. Her mum was also here which helped with her being sad but she lost the man she loved being trapped in this universe.

For the first nineteen years of her life, everything was normal and bleak. She had dropped out of school for a bloke which was a stupid choice, and had gotten the worst job getting the worse pay at a store called Henrik's. All was normal, with Mickey Smith her friend since childhood being her boyfriend of a sort. She had never loved him that way, not really but as it was expected of her for she had no other prospects lining at her door, she dated him. And then everything changed the day she took the loterry money to Wilson. She had gone to the basement and had seen plastic mannequins moving about. She had thought they were playing some sort of elaborate prank. That's when a Time Lord...the last Time Lord called The Doctor saved her life by grabbing her hand and telling her one thing: run. And she did, and they equally rescued the other and he offered her a trip throughout space when the Nestene Consciousness were defeated. She had refused at first because...well...she couldn't really understand now maybe for the weak reason that her best friend and mum needed her around. Then he left...but a few moments later he came back and said that his wonderful machine called the TARDIS could also travel in time which sealed the deal with her. She traveled with him a long time seeing things no normal human could ever see ever. And then he changed his entire body which had frightened her. She wanted her original Doctor back...but he had taken the entirety of the Time Vortex and couldn't survive that, but he had by changing everything about him.

It had taken her a little while but she had gotten used to the Doctor that took her Doctor's place and fell in love with that him bit by bit where she had fallen in love with the war torn man who had a big temper and equally big ears. This him had wonderful hair and puppy brown eyes and he was a bit foxy as 'The Last Human' had correctly pointed out when she took over the new Doctor's body. They had many adventures as well taking care of werewolves and saving Queen Victoria's life which brought Torchwood to life. That's when things started going downhill and fast. They kept being separated but she had been so certain that nothing would keep them apart long cause they would always get to the other at the end of it. But he had warned her about saying 'never' and look where she was now.

Now the both of them had come to this universe once before which is how she knew this Pete was the one that survived. This universe was being threatened by an old enemy of The Doctor, one that he hadn't seen in a long while: the Cybermen. That had been a terrible day where the double of her mum had been converted into the unfeeling robot which tore her and Pete apart. Now the Cybermen had came through the void to her original universe as well as the Daleks. The Doctor clever as he is thought of a plan to get them away for good: as the Daleks, Cybermen, and those that had been in Pete's World had this sort of radiation stuff and would pull them all into the void that had been opened thanks to the Torchwood facility. He had tried to do it alone but she wouldn't hear of it also helping with getting the levers activated and drawing in the Daleks and Cybermen holding on tightly to a pair of clamps on the wall. Then something horrible happened. One of the Daleks had hit her lever causing the door to close a bit and in order to get rid of all of them, it had to be up all the way. So she had let go of her clamp and raised the lever getting it fully up once more but that was when the pull of the void also pulled at her fiercer. She had tried to hang on but...it had been really tough and she let go...but her dad had caught her and brought her to this universe just in time. But now the ties between the two universes were closed. She rubbed at her head and got dressed. She would take her dad up on working at Torchwood here. Maybe doing that will help her with the hole in her heart. She got dressed and paused looking at the alloy key that her Doctor had given her. It was glowing a faint orange and was warm to the touch. But....she smiled widely. She forgot that while traveling with The Doctor, impossible stopped being a word in her vocabulary. She got dressed quicker and got her shoes which she ran in on in record time and ran out the door ignoring her mum's worried tone as she took off looking around for him and his TARDIS.

[Kaga]

“Nope. Not a mechanical problem…” Eight continued to muse as he pulled himself out from the underside of the TARDIS console, screwdriver in hand. “So what’s wrong?” he asked, placing his hands on top of the console again. He thought back to anything that might’ve happened recently to leave her in a less-than-optimal state. He paced around the interior a bit, struggling to think of what could’ve happened. His eyes wandering as he thought, his gaze landed on a cup of tea he’d left sitting on a table. He took a sip. It had started to get cold, as he never did finish it, instead having gotten distracted by… oh.

“Oh. Oh no.” he spoke up, hastily setting the tea down again as he scurried into the cloister room. “That shouldn’t even be possible.” he told himself. But, sure enough, an enormous crack was visible across the Eye of Harmony, leaking wisps of TARDIS energy. Rushing over to the Eye and looking it over more closely, he noticed familiar, translucent green slime remaining around the cracks. “The Master’s alive…?!” he whispered, astonished.

Frantically, he looked around the surrounding area for any more reptilian ghost slime. Tracking that maniac down had immediately become #1 priority. Unfortunately, though, he didn’t see any sort of trail that had been left. He ran his fingers through his hair in somewhat of a panic, thinking desperately of what to do next — where to even begin searching inside of something as grand as the TARDIS.

Thinking fast, he ran back into the console room, and did the only thing he could think of to do. “Master!” he called out, bellowing so loudly his voice nearly echoed inside the TARDIS corridors. “I know you’re in here somewhere!” he yelled. “I know you’re still alive! …Somehow!” he continued shouting, turning his head in various directions as he awaited some sort of response. When none came, he continued to call out to the emptiness: “Well come on, then! Show yourself already!!”

Because clearly this would be the best time for some stranger to just waltz right into the madman’s box.

[ladyonyx04]

Rose followed the 'directions' the alloy key gave her turning down roads she would probably not remember if she had to make her way back, but she wasn't counting on that. Nor was she even thinking of that possibility to think of a back up plan just in case. But then she stopped and she grinned probably looking like a loon but she honestly didn't care as she went to the cobalt blue police public call box and took the key and put it in the hole turning it and entering silently.

"Well come on, then! Show yourself!" Shouted a man inside the TARDIS and she came further into the middle of the console noticing the different interior. Where before it had coral struts and just the controls in the middle of the room it was as if she stepped inside a library from the past. Wait...could this mean that...he regenerated again?
"All right, I'm showin'." She says looking around curiously and see's the owner of the male voice and stopped a moment taking in his clothing choices. Well wasn't he a looker. "Are...are you The Doctor?" She asks curiously. For she had no idea what he looked like before her leather jacket version...that later changed to one that wore pinstripes and converse. So he could have regenerated and she'd have no idea. How long has it been? Could he have forgotten her? She didn't really understand regeneration after all beyond the fact that it made her second Doctor a bit...manic which she loved. And hyper. Couldn't forget that. But still. Many years could have past for him and he could have just now found a crack or something that would allow his entry without destroying both universes.

[Kaga]

“Close the door!!” the Doctor gasped, bolting past Rose and hastily slamming the doors shut. “With any luck, the Master’s still stuck inside this TARDIS.” he spoke quickly, still breathing heavily. “Just so long as the doors stay closed, I think that’ll contain him. If he gets out now, the results could be disastrous. Especially since I don’t even know where or when I… wait.” he cut himself off from his panicked rambling, and sharply turned to look at Rose — his body still pressed up against the TARDIS doors — and stared at her for a few seconds before he continued to speak. “…Who are you?” he asked. “And, how did you even get in here? No! Wait, hold on,” he quickly spoke up again before Rose could answer, starting to step away from the doors and towards the unfamiliar girl. “…You called me ‘Doctor’.” he spoke, slower now, trying to sort out his thoughts. “So then, does that mean… that… …Have we met?” he asked, sounding rather confused and perplexed at the situation.

[ladyonyx04]

Rose jumped out of the way of the doors as the man she suspected was the Doctor, because let's be honest, his pinstripe suit and red converse led her to believe he had a waky fashion sense before his leather and big ears version that she knew best, started rambling about a 'Master' and how catastrophic mess it would have been should the figure escape. She then had a look of concern as he looked at her as if he didn't recognize her. Again it could have been centuries for him. She had no idea what he went through and what he would have retained. "Yeah. I know you. 'M Rose. Rose Tyler. I was your companion before this universe took me from you. Could you have....regenerated again?" She questions for she had never been told what he had looked like before she had met him.

And really she didn't exactly ask even with the whole Sarah Jane Smith debacle. Apparently that companion had also been there for his regeneration a long time ago. And Rose knew that The Doctor didn't like to talk about his past before the Time War so she hadn't pushed. Besides she had Mickey her sort of boyfriend as a buffer between them which he put there. The git. He couldn't understand that she really did choose him and she had meant the answer she had given him 'forever' to his question of how long she was going to stay.

[Kaga]

“Rose Tyler…” Eight echoed slowly, as if testing the words on his lips. He paused for a moment to think, trying to remember what that name could’ve meant to him. “No, I’ve got nothing.” he replied, a bit apologetically. “Sorry, you see, ever since I last regenerated, my memory’s been a bit rubbish. You’ll need to give me a bit more than that.” he told her, hoping to get a bit more information to jog his memory. Though, if she knew what regeneration was, that would imply that she’d most likely seen him regenerate once before. So, that at least narrowed things down a bit. And while he still wanted to solve the mystery in front of him — partially out of guilt for forgetting a former companion and partially out of sheer curiosity — another piece of Rose’s words stood out a bit more strongly to him, grabbing his attention.

“Oh! Hold on,” he spoke up, once again before Rose had a chance to answer his first response. “You said ‘this’ universe,” he continued, thoughts clearly flowing in his head. “Does that mean… Have I landed in an alternate universe?” he asked, glancing uneasily towards the TARDIS console. “Astonishing…” he whispered under his breath. The poor old machine must’ve been shaken up worse than he thought. “Oh! Wait! I remember leaving a girl like you in another dimension like this.” he spoke up, his attention once again fixed on Rose as more memories started coming back to him. “Yes, that’s right, a young blonde, just like you — I remember now!” he grinned, a clear image finally forming in his brain. “I left you on the border of E-Space with those catlike time-sensitives, right?” he asked, though he seemed fairly confident in his answer. “Is K-9 still with you? How’s he doing these days?”

[ladyonyx04]

Rose wasn't all together certain what he was talking about. But 'catlike' and 'K-9' did gain her attention to stop her looking at The Doctor as if he had grown an extra head. "The only person I know who has a K-9 unit is Sarah. Last I saw of them, you had fixed the dog up for her and she got to finally say good bye for good. Is tha' what you mean?" She asked feeling bad that she had no idea what he was talking about. But once he did regain all his memories she swore that she was going to get her answers one way or another, of course dodging from the more hard to talk about things if he didn't feel like it.

"Yeah, this is an echo of the universe I came from, only I wasn't born in this one." She answered his question of if he was in a different universe. "And my dad survived." And they had to save this universe from Cybermen. That had been an adventure that had hurt when the other Jackie Tyler had been converted and when Mickey had decided to stay here. She had given her mum a long hug when she had gotten home having needed it.

[Kaga]

“Oh! Sarah Jane! I remember her.” the Doctor spoke up, some of Rose’s words finally starting to make some sense for him. Of course he could never forget his best friend! Granted, the exact way Rose described their most recent encounter didn’t exactly form a solid picture in his mind… but that was almost to be expected at this point. Regardless, he tried to think back to when he left her. “Last time I saw her, that was… three regenerations ago? Four? Certainly a long time…” he spoke, mostly to himself as he leaned against the TARDIS console and ran his fingers through his hair.

Then, Rose started talking about the parallel universe again. “Oh, so, I brought you here? Is that it?” he asked, still searching his mind for anything familiar about this strange girl. The bit about her father wasn’t ringing many bells, though. “And you’re… human, correct?” he guessed. “Sorry — lots of Time Lord-looking things running around the universe. Hard to tell them all apart sometimes. I mostly guessed based on the clothes.” he told her.

[ladyonyx04]

"Uh...no. That isn't wha' happened. I got trapped here after we opened up the void to trap the Cybermen and the Daleks. But we did come here once by accident. And we took on the Cybermen the first time. Yeah I'm human." Rose answered and looked at him curiously. He hadn't said that before.

In fact he drove in the fact that he was all alone by the end of their first trip. Did his regeneration do something worse than just forgetting her? Or was it best that he didn't realize that he was the last? Not knowing enough about his past but knew not to mess with time or risk Reapers coming was pretty sure to keep her mouth shut.

[Kaga]

Eight nodded slowly, but the look on his face made it clear that he was still very confused. Cybermen? It had been a while? Daleks? Well… Those things never go away for long. Though the Doctor was nearly positive he recalled completely destroying Skarro along with Davros and every single Dalek in his previous incarnation, but that must’ve been his faulty memory playing tricks on him again. It must not have happened quite like that. “Yeah… Sorry, no, I’m drawing a complete blank.” he told her apologetically, starting to feel rather guilty for not being able to remember this poor girl at all. “So, um, how long did we travel together, approximately?” he asked, still partially making an effort to remind himself who this Rose human was but also trying to gauge how much emotional damage he’d probably already done…

[ladyonyx04]

Rose leaned on the console of the TARDIS biting her lip as she thought about it was next to impossible to gauge how long she had been traveling with him in the time and space machine. "We figured it was about maybe two years some time after we went to Scotland in 1879." She said her thoughts smiling. "Tha' had been some fun." She remarked in fondness as she recalled the Queen who had knighted them...then banished them on the same day. "I could tell ya how we met if tha' would help." She offered hesitantly. For again, she didn't know which of him she knew and what he had forgotten thanks to his regenerating. There was also the entire 'Bad Wolf' business. She still had no recollection of it but for some reason she could remember destroying the Dalek Emperor. Weird that. Sure she got some things but she thought it best not to get into that for her head had begun to burn and he had changed because of it. Whatever he had done had probably saved her. She wished she could be of better help to the alien she adored fully and completely. She hadn't been able to tell him so and now she worried that she shouldn't lest she pressure him.

[Kaga]

The Doctor nodded slowly, still drawing a blank. ‘Scotland in 1879’? Well he’d been to Scotland enough times and 1879 enough times that everything starts blending together after a while. Then she suggested she tell him about how they met. “Ah! Yes, try that.” he told her, trying to still sound hopeful though in all honesty he was really starting to grow worried that, whoever this girl was, she had been totally erased from his mind by how rough that last regeneration was. Granted, given what happened, he probably should’ve been thankful he was able to regenerate at all. Still, he couldn’t help but think about what other huge chunks of his life had completely vanished, or what other people he’d forgotten… The Doctor leaned on the TARDIS console as he waited to hear Rose’s story. If this didn’t spark anything, though, he had a feeling he’d have to give up soon…

[ladyonyx04]

"It was 2005 an' I was working at Henrik's. It was some way to make money as I had no A-levels, and I was given the lottery money to give to Wilson our electrician. I went to the basement and I heard something a sort of scramblin' about and I tried to find Wilson. What I found instead were walking plastic. Nestene you called it later, but I didn't know it then. I thought it had been a bunch of students being silly until they started to menacingly trap me by a wall. I thought I was done for until you took my hand and told me one thing. 'Run' you said and I followed not questioning the order." Rose told him wondering if that helped at all. She hoped so but she was beginning to think that perhaps it wouldn't. What had happened to him that his regeneration had caused him to forget her? Her heart went to him as she thought of how lonely he could have been at his death and rebirth. He needed someone there, to hold his hand. To remind him that he wasn't alone. Or maybe he could look through her mind. Would that help any? She knew he could thanks to the whole Madame de Pompadour mess. She pulled a hand through her hair an action that had been a whole lot from her second Doctor who would do that when facing something he didn't know how to face, and something she didn't know she picked up. "Perhaps....you could look through my mind as well if you want. 'M not sure if it would help or not, but 'm willin' if it might." She said making a consecutive decision to let him know that if it would help she wanted him to try. She wasn't afraid and that she was willing.

[Kaga]

Eight nodded, listening intently to what Rose had to say. His ears perked up a bit when she mentioned the Nestene — now that was something he did remember! — but that was from back in his Third life, when he was trapped on Earth, so, that couldn’t have been right. Besides, the rest of her story didn’t sound very familiar, either.

Then she suggested that he look through her mind. “Oh! You’re… you’re alright with that?” he replied, stepping towards her a bit hesitantly. “Normally I take a girl out to dinner first.” he laughed a bit awkwardly. “Unless, of course, I already did…” The Doctor felt like he’d only just met the girl and it seemed a bit awkward to rifle through her memories so quickly, but it was by far the best bet he had at regaining his own memories. “At any rate, I suppose it’s worth a try.” he said, gently placing two fingers from each hand on the sides of her head. “You ready?” he asked, before closing his eyes and concentrating.

“Alright then… back a few years…” he mused, thinking aloud as he began his search. “Ah, right, Nestene — wait, who is…” he trailed off, confusion spreading across his face as Rose’s memories of him ran through his mind. His breathing seemed to quicken somewhat as he continued to race through his mind. “Oh, and this one, too, that’s…” he murmured, his expression seeming to grow even more fearful and even a bit fearful. His breathing growing ragged, he eventually stopped, and violently pulled away from Rose, letting out a pained scream as he stumbled back against the TARDIS console, gasping for breath as his hearts pounded in his chest.

“Listen,” he spoke up. “I’ve never seen those two faces before.” he told her, fear evident in his voice. “That’s two whole regenerations that are completely gone.” he continued, mind still racing. “Also, death by absorbing the TARDIS energy — that’s a new one. Rather flashy, too. Certainly more noble than falling off a building — but, that’s beside the point!” he turned towards Rose again, his composure shifting from mere shock and fear to desperation and terror. “I didn’t recognize either of those incarnations at all, I don’t remember any of those adventures, and, never mind the whole T-Time War nonsense…” he continued, slowly inching his way back towards Rose again, visibly shaking. “And, the only other explanation for all this would be that you’re actually from my future, but, that couldn’t possibly be the case, because, just by seeing my future incarnations and learning about everything they’ve done, I would’ve created a paradox so nasty it could tear a hole in the fabric of the universe.” he rambled, a nervous smile spreading across his face as he crept towards her. “So basically, what I’m trying to say is…” he took hold of her wrists fearfully, before his nervous smile vanished from his face all at once and was replaced by complete seriousness and fear. “Help me.”

[ladyonyx04]

Rose knew how bad messing with time could be and when The Doctor's grip became bruising, she looked at him steadily and nods. She didn't want reapers thank you very much. "What do I do?" She asks having full faith that he would be able to fix what she had done wrong. He had done so before and she didn't doubt he wouldn't again. She didn't mind that she would bruise later because of his touch. He didn't mean to, and besides he was stronger than a human as he liked to say.

[Kaga]

“I… I don’t know.” he replied weakly, still trembling as he slowly pulled himself away from Rose, leaning on the TARDIS console again for support. “I need to figure out what’s happened to my memories… I thought I had them all back but I suppose not… gah! It’s like I don’t even know who I am anymore! Oh, what a horrible sense of deja vu…” he continued, before his head perked up and another look of concern and confusion crossed his face. “I’m not sure I even remember what I was doing before you walked in…”

[ladyonyx04]

"Well when I came in you seemed to be talkin' to yourself, only you warned that the doors had to be kept closed cause a 'Master' could escape. I wish I could help you out more." Rose says and has a thoughtful expression on her face as she pondered the choices. "Hmm...well in what happens to your future don't ya have some sort of...trick that helps temporarily forget until a time when you should remember?" She asks not completely sure how Time Lords worked having only been around one. And he did go about saying how superior his brain was in conjunction with humans so maybe he could.

[Kaga]

“The Master!!” the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, finally remembering something really important that he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten. “Right! He did something to my TARDIS,” Eight continued, scrambling over to the console and typing madly away at the keyboard as he dragged the scanner screen in front of him. “Have I ever mentioned him to you?” he asked Rose. “No, probably not — you’d at least know about him, then. You’d need a memory worse than mine to forget that name, especially after seeing his work. At any rate, let’s take a look at the Fault Locator,” he rambled, speaking mostly to himself with that last sentence as he paused to take a look at the scanner screen. “Oh, no… Massive power drain. Of course. Should’ve figured as much with the sort of access he has to the Eye of Harmony — though I still don’t know how he survived — and then… looks like he also tampered with the Directional Unit. Well, that would explain how we would up here — wherever here is…” he stopped for a moment to look around, and his eyes landed on Rose again. “You said this is an alternate dimension, yes? Fascinating. Haven’t visited one of those in a long time. Or at least, I don’t think I’ve been to one recently… at any rate! He also…” the Doctor stopped, a puzzled expression crossing his face as he leaned a bit closer to the screen and squinted. “…deactivated the Cloister Bell?!” he exclaimed. “Well, that explains some things — he even muted the poor girl! He must have more control than I thought…” he continued, before returning his focus to the keyboard. “Let’s see if I can’t access the Emergency Power Booster Unit…” he said to himself, typing away diligently. He then stopped to look back at Rose. “You’re sure nothing snuck out the door while you had it open? No… ghostly gust of wind, no slime, no slithering sensation like a snake was brushing up against your ankles or anything?” he asked, then tilted his head as he tried to look past her towards the door. “Actually, can you make sure there’s no slime anywhere over there? I’m fairly certain I locked the door last time he got out… or at least, I think I’m fairly certain…”

[ladyonyx04]

"No, no mention of a Master of any sor' really. And we never saw 'im." Rose said as she walked to where The Doctor had motioned to, taking in the Byron-esque library he had, thinking over the different things he had asked. Wind? Not ghostly in any case. Just...normal when she had entered before the door had been slammed shut by him. Slime? Nope. Although the last did pick up something. Slime across the ankles? She had felt something of the sort, glad to have been wearing running shoes. "Is there any kind of rift energy near by, where the Old Girl can restore her power?" She asks. "And I did feel something slithering across my ankle for a brief moment." She answered truthfully having heard him ramble about the cloister bell and wondered what that could be as well as this Eye of Harmony. Then again, she was certain that the Doctor she knew had it moved elsewhere. "Muted? Muted how? Will the muave alert still sound?" Well if The Doctor had said 'muted' she could figure not but still, good question she thought to ask.