A Long Way From Gallifrey: Musketeers of Gallifrey By Sean Bassett

The Doctor stared with a mixture of confusion and shock as he stepped out of the TARDIS and into a throne room. The room was more like a hall, its bright yellow walls offering an unmistakably royal atmosphere enhanced by the brightness from the chandelier above.

“You’ve been expecting me?” Said the Doctor.

“That’s what I implied, is it not?” The Cardinal said.

“So what’s this all about?” The Doctor asked. “What do you want from me?”

The Cardinal began to pace the room.

“I want you to be a Musketeer,”

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Along a long winding road stood an old veterinary practice. It was a small building, worn and beginning to fall apart brick by brick. But nonetheless, it was a cheap one. As the Vessini family drove up in their family Nissan, the clouds soon began to part as raindrops pounded the car windows with such force that one of the kids inside clutched his brother’s shirt in fear. In the back of the car were two dogs; a giant Great Dane and a much smaller Jack Russell. Sat with them were two children. Both were boys, however one was slightly older than the other, his hair a dark shade of brown. The other boy had golden dreadlocks and a deep scar above his mouth; the boy wasn’t quite sure how he had got it but apparently it had something to do with an incident when he was two.

The dogs both began to whine as the car approached the Vets. The younger boy opened the car door and dragged the Great Dane out by the lead tied to its collar. The other followed, cradling the Jack Russell delicately in his arms and swaying him back and forth as though comforting a newborn baby. The dogs were going to have an operation; the vet had said there would be a phone call when they were ready for collection.

After the dogs had been dropped off, the Vessinis returned home unaware of the events of which were about to take place…

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Four hours later, they returned to pick up their dogs. One of the vets led the dogs over on their leads, struggling to keep hold as the dogs tried to dart in their family’s direction. When the mother went to approach the Great Dane, however, it snarled ferociously, gritting its teeth and letting out a loud growling noise as if to say ‘leave me alone’.

The mother, startled at her dog’s reaction, jumped back and instead tried to pick up the Jack Russell. The Jack Russell bit deeply into her skin and a large pool of blood formed on the ground of the reception floor. The receptionist watched in horror as the Great Dane leapt towards the mother and mauled through her face, skin flying over the reception room as the Jack Russell tore her stomach apart with its little paws.

Soon, there was little left of the mother.

Bones were all that remained.

Bones.

And a deep pool of blood.

********************************************************************************

“…mother was found dead after a violent dog attack,”

Christopher Eccleston gasped, sending Rice Crispies flying out of his mouth and across the kitchen table as the news reporter told of a recent dog attack in Rome.

Billie quickly got out a dustpan and brush from the cupboard and began sweeping the mess away.

“Do you think that could be something to do with the Doctor’s world?” She asked.

“I believe so,” Christopher nodded. “I’ll see if there’s any last minute flights available. We need to go to Rome and investigate this,”

Billie returned the dustpan and brush and turned to face Christopher.

“And if it’s not aliens?”

“Then we’ll still help out,” Christopher said. “That’s what the Doctor would do,”

********************************************************************************

Six hours later, they were onboard a plane heading directly to Rome. Christopher had brought a couple of Nintendo Switches to play during the flight; Billie was currently in the lead on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (much to Christopher’s annoyance).

“Typical,” He sniffed. “When I need a blue shell, I get a banana skin instead. But when you need a blue shell, you get a blue shell,”

“Don’t be a sore loser, Chris,” Billie laughed. “Your kart skills are hardly perfect,”

Just as Billie’s character crossed the finish line, the plane began to spiral out of control; passengers screamed as the plane headed downwards in a rapid descent, the buildings of Rome slowly coming into view as they headed for a devastating collision.

“CHRISTOPHER, DO SOMETHING!” Roared Billie.

“Like what?” Christopher asked.

“I don’t know, try using the Sonic Screwdriver!” she replied.

Christopher ferreted inside his pocket and pulled out the Sonic, aiming it towards the ground. The plane began to slow down, until eventually the nose scraped the rooftop of a nearby building. The engines ceased and the plane landed safely on the roof; the passengers all sighed in relief.

Christopher and Billie followed the other passengers off the plane and looked around anxiously.

There was no way off the building.

“We’ll have to jump,” Christopher decided.

“What?!? Are you serious?” Billie frowned.

“Have you got a better idea?”

“Christopher, we’ll die!” She protested.

Christopher walked to the far end of the rooftop, ran to the very edge of the building and took a giant leap, landing perfectly on the building opposite much to Billie’s relief. She nervously followed, screwing up her eyes in anticipation of a grisly demise and landed roughly beside Christopher, her reaction showing both a mixture of surprise and relief at her capabilities.

Christopher grinned.

“See? We’re fine,”

Billie panted next to him, her face dripping in sweat.

“But we haven’t achieved anything,”

“What?” Christopher said, confused.

“There’s no way down here either,”

********************************************************************************

Captain Treville stared at his new recruits stood in front of him. An odd bunch. He didn’t have very high hopes. One had a very skinny frame; dressed in eccentric garments of the like Treville had never seen his men wear before. Treville had only ever heard this man say one word today: ‘Cool’. Then there was the romantic of the three; the one who walked around with a woman’s haircut quoting some guy named Puccini. His favourite was the more serious of the trio; his no nonsense approach didn’t come as a surprise to Treville as the man had told him earlier how he had previously fought in a war.

The sun was starting to disappear, the darkness drawing in as Captain Treville ordered his recruits to practice their sword-wielding skills. The skinny man seemed a little clumsy; Treville made a mental note to give him extra training sessions. The others, however, were surprisingly quite agile with their swords.

“You know, this would all be a lot easier if I could use my Sonic Screwdriver,” The skinny man moaned.

“Oh, just shut up and get on with it, will you?” The serious one snapped. “I’m beginning to dread the day I become you,”

“Oh, not again. Why is it I always have to pick a fight with myself?” The romantic man moaned.

Treville noticed the heated conversation between the men and decided to call it a day. They were growing tired and he feared they would soon begin to lose concentration in the extreme heat. As the trio returned to their respective accommodation, Treville wandered back to his office and slammed the door tight behind him.

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A few hours later, he awoke in the office to the sounds of angry shouting from below. Outside, a man and his wife were chasing after a guy wearing some sort of strange purple helmet. Treville didn’t catch all of the words but he did hear the helmet man say something about a place called ‘Sontar’.

Treville left his office in a panic. Hopefully his new recruits were ready for their first job.

Hopefully.

*******************************************************************************

The Doctors, having received Captain Treville’s summons, were waiting impatiently for his arrival , whilst also keeping a careful eye on the Sontaran in front. As Treville made his way down from the office, the Sontaran jumped on a nearby horse and rode off into the distance, leaving the husband and wife looking rather helpless and in need of a good steaming cup of tea.

“Good morning, Musketeers,” Treville said. “As this is your first time on the job, I’ll be joining you today,”

“That’s very nice of you,” The Eighth Doctor said. “But we don’t really need your help,”

“You’re new recruits. I can’t leave you to deal with it on your own,” Treville argued.

“Meanwhile, your nasty Sontaran bloke is getting away,” The Ninth Doctor pointed out. “So I suggest we get a move on,”

Treville opened his mouth to object to the Ninth Doctor’s blatantly rude behaviour, but before the words could even leave his mouth the Doctors had galloped off on their steeds into the distance, leaving Treville behind in the dust.

He sighed and clambered into the saddle of his horse, speeding after them in an attempt to catch up.

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Meanwhile, Christopher and Billie were about to jump across to the next rooftop.

“What if we can never find a way down?” Billie was feeling very unsure about this.

Christopher thought for a moment then said “There should be a building with a stairway down somewhere,”

“I’m going to trust you on this,” Said Billie.

They leapt across to the next building, then to the one after that until finally they found a building with a stairway down. Christopher and Billie ran down the stairs of a building of flats and out onto a deserted street.

“I thought it would be busier than this,” Billie murmured.

They came across an empty newsagents, its name on the shop sign containing some Italian word neither Christopher nor Billie could decipher. Outside was a stand displaying the newspaper headline ‘FREAK DOGS ON LOOSE’. Christopher and Billie entered the newsagents’ and picked up a copy of one of the papers (Billie briefly wondered why the headline was in English but quickly shook the thought away; what was important now was stopping these dogs from causing anymore trouble, not why a Italian newsagent’s was selling newspapers written in English).

After spending a few minutes reading the main news story, Christopher and Billie looked at one another in shock.

“That sounds like the same dogs the news reporter was talking about!” Billie said.

“It would be a bit of a coincidence for there to have been two incidents of dogs mauling their owners’ face recently,” Christopher agreed.

A growling sound came from behind one of the magazine racks.

Billie jumped.

“Wait. Did you hear that?”

Christopher nodded.

“It seems one of the dogs is in the shop with us,”

The shop went dark. Billie felt like screaming but managed to restrain herself. The last thing she needed was to alert the dog to their location.

“But which one?”

Suddenly a dog leapt towards Billie with such force that it sent her toppling into the magazine stand behind, the magazines descending around her like the dropping of hailstones on a particularly nasty day. It was the Great Dane mentioned in the news report; it grated its teeth at Billie ready to strike.

With the Great Dane inches from Billie’s face, Christopher waved his arms as if to attract its attention and ran as the dog bounded after him. Billie stood up and picked up a scrunched up magazine from the floor.

“Here, fetch!” She called as she threw the magazine outside.

The dog ran out of the door and chased after the magazine; Billie couldn’t believe she’d saved someone with something that looked like an Italian version of Hello magazine.

Christopher didn’t look happy; perhaps he was an avid reader of Hello?

“Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“I saved you. You could show a bit more gratitude,” Billie complained.

Christopher shook his head.

“You saved me. But now the population of Rome is in trouble. You may have saved one person but you’ve put a lot more people in danger in the process. You’ve essentially signed Rome’s fate!”

********************************************************************************

Captain Treville looked around their surroundings. It was dark already and they hadn’t made much progress. A day of riding had brought them into the middle of a dense forest in the middle of nowhere. No sign of the man with the funny helmet.

The forest was wet; it smelt rather dank. Nethertheless, it was possibly their best place to set up camp.

A lady came running towards them. Like the Musketeers, she was strangely dressed; her jumper consisted of a bizarre bow-tie pattern, her skirt so short it barely even reached her ankle. She stood beside the Eleventh Doctor and folded her arms, smiling.

“So, how’s it going?” She asked.

“Pretty well, thank you. Not very good with a sword but I like to think I’m the best Musketeer out of these lot,” The Eleventh Doctor smiled.

“I think you’ll find that’s me,” The Eighth Doctor coughed irritably.

The Eleventh Doctor twirled around to face the Eighth Doctor, reaching in his pocket ready to show his Sonic.

“I have the bigger Sonic Screwdriver!”

The Eighth Doctor ferreted around in his pocket.

“I have an atomic clock from the millennium celebrations in San Francisco,”

He produced the atomic clock and showed it to the Eleventh Doctor, staring proudly at his jealous face.

“I want an atomic clock!” He moaned to his companion, one Clara Oswald.

“I think someone’s getting jealous!” Clara teased.

The Ninth Doctor stood to face Clara, his moody glare giving the impression that he wasn’t entirely impressed with this newcomer.

“Oi! Make yourself useful and collect some wood, will you?” He barked. “We haven’t got time for friendly chit chat. We need to set off as soon as we can, and quickly, before the Sontarans wage war on this little planet you call home,”

********************************************************************************

Clara made her way into the forest, leaves crunching behind her as she walked further into the wilderness. A figure stepped out in front of her, its purple armor standing out in the darkness around her. It lifted its domed helmet off to reveal what Clara could only describe as a human potato.

“Surrender to the glory of the Sontaran empire, human scum!” It spat, brandishing its weapon ready to shoot.

Clara turned and dashed through the forest. The Sontaran was close behind, purple bolts of light flying all around her and hitting the trees, obscuring her way back to the camp.

Clara mistimed a jump over one of the fallen trees and collapsed to the ground, mud splattering her face as the Sontaran approached with a small smirk forming across its face.

The end of the weapon was placed on Clara’s temple, ready to blow her to smithereens.

Ready for victory.

Ready for glory at last.

**************************************************************************

A scream surrounded the forest setting.

The Eleventh Doctor looked up in alert, darting in the direction in which he had seen Clara walk the night before.

“CLARA!”

Lying underneath a fallen tree branch was Clara’s body.

Clara was dead.

********************************************************************************

As the van trundled along the road, the dog warden turned to face the strangers in the back who had insisted on coming with him to find the dogs on the loose.

“So, who exactly are you two anyway?” He asked curiously.

Christopher wondered whether to maintain their pretense as the Doctor and Rose, although the man had a broad English accent so he probably had at least a vague idea the Doctor at least was merely nothing more than a fictional creation.

“I’m Christopher and this is my…er…companion Billie,” Christopher said. “We’re actors from the UK,”

“You’re actors?” The dog warden said in surprise.

He didn’t seem to recognize them.

“What’s your interest in these dogs, then?”

Christopher sat silent in the corner, trying to think of an excuse to convince this warden. What could he say? The warden wouldn’t likely believe the truth and he had to admit, the prospect of anyone joining a dog warden to find some stray dogs was more than a little odd.

“We’re filming a new show for the BBC about dogs,” Billie said quickly.

The dog warden raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t see any cameras,”

Billie thought for a moment.

“We’re just rehearsing at the moment,”

The dog warden didn’t look totally convinced. Eventually, he mumbled an ‘I see’ and continued driving.

The dog warden had picked the actors up outside the newsagents, after they had rung his number and claimed to have seen stray dogs on the loose on the streets of Rome. They had asked to come along and he agreed, so long as they would help him find them. So far, they had had little luck but the warden hadn’t given up hope yet.

He whistled silently to himself as he drove past the coliseum and the queues of people waiting impatiently for a tour, some swigging bottles of water as they began to sweat under the sun.

“There!” Billie shouted suddenly, causing the dog warden to bring the van to an abrupt stop.

She was pointing to a pair of dogs chasing after a group of tourists near the coliseum. The dog warden leapt out of the van and gave chase, Christopher and Billie running after him. The Jack Russell began to target the oldest of the group; a woman with light grey hair and carrying a walking stick. Its teeth sank dangerously into the woman’s leg, blood beginning to pour out onto the street as she tried to push the dog away.

The dog warden leapt to the woman’s defense, tearing the dog away from her leg and grabbing it roughly around its neck. However it now turned its attention towards the warden, grabbing his hand roughly with its teeth and refusing to let go as the dog warden tried to shake the dog away. Reacting quickly, Christopher grabbed the Jack Russell and held its mouth still as he carried it over to the warden’s van and opened the back doors. Inside were a dozen of small and large cages; Christopher chucked it inside one of the smaller cages and turned his attention to the Great Dane, who was terrorizing a baby in a pushchair.

Spotting a collar around the neck of the dog, Christopher attempted to pull it away by its collar as the Great Dane protested and flashed its teeth. The lead was still attached, he observed. Christopher dragged the dog to the van and pushed it into one of the larger cages in the back, before closing the van doors and waiting for Billie and the dog warden to return.

Once back, the dog warden asked Billie to drive and sat in the passenger’s seat complaining about his stinging hand.

********************************************************************************

The journey to the rescue centre where the dog warden had previously dropped dogs he’d found was mostly peaceful. There were a few frustrated barks from the dogs but the warden had grown used to it by now after his years on the job.

For Billie and Christopher, however, it was a different story.

“I wish I had ear muffs,” Billie complained.

“That would have been a sensible item to bring,” Christopher agreed. “How far are we off the rescue centre?”

“Only another ten miles,” the dog warden replied. “Just turn left here, Billie,”

The dogs began to paw at their respective cage doors.

“I hope those doors will last,” Billie said nervously.

“I’ve had those cages for years,” The warden said. “Never had a problem,”

Christopher began to panic.

“’Years’”?

The dog warden turned round from his seat and looked directly at Christopher.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine,”

The dogs were getting more restless.

“Christopher, I don’t trust those cages,” Billie spoke quietly.

“Me neither,” Christopher mumbled.

The dogs broke out and leapt towards the dog warden, tearing him apart limb from limb. Pieces of skin flew around the van as Christopher leapt to action, sonicing at the dogs to little effect.

“Christopher, do something!” Billie panicked.

“I’m trying!” Came Christopher’s exasperated response.

Eventually Christopher managed to pull the Great Dane away and focused his attention on the Jack Russell, who was still tearing into the dog warden’s skin. Christopher tore it away and stared silently at what remained.

For only one thing of the warden was still there.

The skeleton.

********************************************************************************

“She’s dead,”

The Ninth Doctor offered a comforting arm around the Eleventh Doctor as he sobbed into the sleeve of the Ninth Doctor’s leather jacket.

“I shouldn’t have promised to take her to Sixteenth century France,” The Eleventh Doctor wailed. “I should have stayed on Trenzalore,”

“You did what any of us would do,” Said the Ninth Doctor. “When have we ever stayed still?”

The Eleventh Doctor brushed his past incarnation’s arm away and stood up.

“Have you already forgotten the Time War?”

The 9th Doctor glanced away. It was obvious he didn’t want to discuss it.

“And that turned out alright, didn’t it? Dozens of Time Lords dead. The whole planet destroyed. And you’re mourning the loss of one silly ape,”

The Eleventh Doctor wiped tears away, walking from the tree branch they had been sitting on and over to the horses where the others were waiting.

“You’re right,” He said. “Here’s me moaning about the death of my friend and you’ve just gone through the scariest nightmare imaginable. But she wasn’t silly. She was more than that. She was clever and intelligent and kind. She was feisty. And above all, she was my impossible girl,”

The four of them mounted the horses and galloped away from the forest, rain pouring down as if also in mourning of the Doctor’s recent loss.

********************************************************************************

The Cardinal looked up as Missy entered the magnificent royal chamber of King Louis XIII, the chandelier sparkling above her venomous smile.

“How much longer must we keep up this pretence, Doctor?” She asked, her eyes glaring piercingly at the so-called ‘Cardinal’ walking towards her.

“Once I am confident they do not possess the knowledge about Gallifrey’s true fate,” The Doctor answered. “They cannot know the real outcome of the Time War. You know as well as I do that it would tear apart the very fabrics of the space-time continuum,”

Missy began to circulate the Doctor, as if to decide how best to get rid of him.

“You know I’m not happy about this team-up don’t you, Doctor?”

The Doctor sniffed.

“I’m not over the moon about it myself. But only you understand the importance of this. I fear Clara would be too weak. Emotions can sometimes lead humans to make irrational decisions without considering the consequences it leaves behind. Mind you, rather they did that than become a bunch of Cybermen,”

Missy stopped her pacing, her hand moving to stroke the Doctor’s chin.

“So why did you send your Sontaran friend to kidnap Clara, then?”

“Like I would tell you,” The Doctor scoffed. “You’ll find out in time. For now, there is still one more person to join the Musketeers. Tell me: are you familiar with The Three Musketeers?”

Missy rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please. I’m don’t obsess over those pathetic humans like you do, Doctor,”

The Doctor glared, his eyebrows arching at Missy in a way that suggested they could launch a million torpedoes if the Doctor so much as wished.

“They are not pathetic,”

“Who are these ‘Three Musketeers’, anyway?” Asked Missy.

“’Who’? They’re not people. The Three Musketeers is a book by Alexandre Dumas,” The Doctor said.

Missy sniggered.

“Have you forgotten how to count, Doctor?”

The Doctor narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had no idea what had prompted Missy’s reply.

“What do you mean?”

“We have three Musketeers,” Missy replied.

“We do indeed,” The Doctor nodded. “But there were four Musketeers, not three,”

“These humans are somehow more stupid than I thought,” Missy muttered.

“The fourth Musketeer doesn’t start off as an ‘official’ Musketeer, hence why they are referred to as the ‘three’ rather than the ‘four’ Musketeers,” He carried on. “We need a fourth member. A fourth me…”

****************************************************************************************

Donna Noble left the TARDIS to find herself in the middle of Paris, albeit not a Paris she was familiar with. She had been to Paris before, on holiday with her late Dad Geoff where they had watched the Eiffel Tower glitter in the pretty night sky. This Paris in comparison looked somewhat less glamorous; dirty, smelly and overall not very pleasant.

The Doctor followed Donna and stared around in utter delight, grinning in a manner that almost made Donna want to slap him across the face.

“Ah, 17th Century Paris. Always wanted to be a Musketeer!” He announced. “You can come out now, Alexandre Dumas,”

A smartly dressed man with a slightly squat face stepped out and gasped in shock at his surroundings.

“I say, how did we end up here? Is this some form of trickery?”

“Donna, you explain to him,” The Doctor muttered.

“OI! Why can’t you? You’re the spaceman!” Donna shouted.

“Time Lord, Donna. Not space man. Time Lord. And I don’t have time to explain. I’m off to become a Musketeer!”

Donna sighed. This was going to be a long day…

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“Any sign of the Sontaran yet?”

Three years had passed since the Sontaran had killed Clara and the Doctors were no nearer to tracking him down. The Eighth Doctor had returned from his most recent search and as ever, the Eleventh Doctor was keen to find out the results.

“No. Still no sign of him,” The Eighth Doctor sighed. “Look, we’ll find him. We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“Yes, working together is our best option,” The Eleventh Doctor agreed.

“When we find that Sontaran, I’ll obliterate every member of his silly little potato race. I’ll wipe every single stinkin’ Sontaran out of the universe if it’s the last thing I do!” The Ninth Doctor threatened.

“Oh, Clara. I never learn, do I?” The Eleventh Doctor murmured to himself.

A man with spiky brown hair and a sweeping brown coat approached the city square. The Eleventh Doctor immediately recognized him as his previous incarnation, the one with the sandshoes.

What was he doing here?

“Hello, I’m you!” He beamed. “Future you. Or past you, depending which incarnation you are. But mainly future you,”

The Eighth Doctor immediately approached the Tenth Doctor and eagerly shook hands.

“Always nice to meet myself,” He remarked. “So, which incarnation are you then?”

“The Tenth,” The Tenth Doctor replied. “Well, Eleventh if you count Mr Grumpypants. Well, Tenth Doctor Eleventh incarnation to be specific. It’s complicated, regeneration, isn’t it?,”

“’Mr Grumpypants’?” The 8th Doctor frowned.

“Oh yeah, it hasn’t happened yet for you,” The Tenth Doctor blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry. Got ahead of myself there. So…Musketeers! Been doing much Musketeering lately? Faced the Cardinal yet?”

“Who cares about the Cardinal anymore?” The Eleventh Doctor sobbed. “I lost my impossible girl,”

The Tenth Doctor frowned.

“’Impossible girl’?”

“My companion,” The Eleventh Doctor said quickly. “Not ‘impossible’ in a sexual way. No, more like in a…complicated…weird-y way,”

“So what happened to her? Your impossible girl, I mean?” He asked.

The Eleventh Doctor looked up to face the Tenth Doctor, his face wet with fresh watery tears continuing to slide quietly down his face.

“She died,”

The Tenth Doctor’s face suddenly drooped into one resembling a man who’d just come from the funeral of a close confidant.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Death is always the worst way to lose a companion, isn’t it?”

The Eleventh Doctor silently nodded and glanced away.

The Tenth Doctor decided to give him a bit of a space and walked towards the left hand corner of the city square. It was there that a certain discovery led him into a long period of shock.

“No…”

***************************************************************************************

Donna stood impatiently by the blue box, her arms folded to express her annoyance at all whom passed by.

“What’s taking him?” Donna muttered to herself. “He’ll need a doctor when I get my hands on him,”

Alexandre was too busy gawping at the local scenery to care about the Doctor’s whereabouts. Donna was keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t attract attention; frankly, she was surprised he hadn’t already. The man was acting like he’d never seen a street before, never mind travelled to the past.

Alexandre came bounding excitedly towards Donna, his pupils bulging like an excited puppy who wanted to play with his best mate.

“This is fascinating stuff!”

“Isn’t it just?” Donna sighed. “Look, why don’t you make yourself useful and look for the Doctor?”

“There is no urgent need, my dear girl. We have all of seventeenth century France to explore. Why can’t we make the most of it, eh?” Alexandre said, grinning.

Donna’s eyes flared.

“’No urgent need?’ We’re years ahead of our own times and the only one who has a bloody clue how to operate this thing has gone galloping off to become a Musketeer!”

“But what is the desperation to worry about our trip home when we could be making the most of this riveting experience?” Came his reply.

“Because it’s not just about having a way home, is it?” Donna pointed out. “He’s my friend, Alexandre. What if he dies and it’s because I wasn’t there to help him?”

As tears at the thought of losing her friend began to run down Donna’s face, Alexandre sighed and decided she was right.

“Then that would be most upsetting. Okay, we shall set off to find your friend immediately,”

****************************************************************************************

Donna entered the bustling city square of Paris first, with Alexandre trailing a few feet behind. As well as her Doctor, there were three other people stood there; a man with rather feminine hair who looked dressed for an Edwardian stag do, another with ears bigger than any Donna had ever seen before and the third a guy dressed in a way that Donna would expect of a university professor from Oxford.

Her Doctor was staring at something; a sort of golden salt and pepper shaker with a weird black base underneath.

Something was wrong. Donna could feel it. So she wasn’t surprised when the Doctor began chasing after the salt and pepper shaker.

“Come on,” She motioned to Alexandre.

Alexandre nodded and they ran after the Doctor, the Dalek’s eyestalk turning to face them as though studying its chasers closely.

“NO!” Came another voice.

It was the guy with the feminine hairstyle, who was chasing towards them with the other two men in tow.

“Leave the Dalek alone!” The Eighth Doctor called. “Never thought I’d say that after all that’s happened lately…”

The Tenth Doctor frowned.

“But it’s a Dalek!”

“I said leave it alone,” The Eighth Doctor repeated.

“And let it go on a killing spree? Nah. I won’t take my chances,” The Tenth Doctor replied.

The other Doctors drew their swords and turned to challenge the Tenth Doctor.

“No,no,no,no. Now that’s not fair. I don’t have a sword on me,”

The Ninth Doctor shrugged.

“Not our problem,”

“I’m not having another companion die in my name,” The Eleventh Doctor added.

“Well, I suppose this will have to do then,” Shrugged the Tenth Doctor, taking his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and holding it defensively ready to duel.

The Eighth Doctor was first to fight; Alexandre took a notebook out of his pocket and quickly jotted something down as he watched with curiosity the Eighth and Tenth Doctors backing further and further away, neither showing signs of giving in as they clashed Sonic to sword.

Eventually, the Tenth Doctor managed to knock the Eighth Doctor back over some boxes nearby and it was the Eleventh Doctor’s turn to fight. The Eleventh Doctor’s face stared determinedly at the Tenth as his sword crossed fiercely with the Sonic Screwdriver, shaving splinters of metal off the Sonic’s smooth surface. Again, the Tenth Doctor claimed his victory.

Finally, the Ninth Doctor swung his sword ferociously towards the Sonic Screwdriver, almost sending the Tenth Doctor toppling back into Alexandre. They fought for a while, scraping sword and Sonic against other until the Tenth Doctor once again came out victorious.

“You have some impressive sword-fighting skills,” The Eighth Doctor noted.

“Well, I try my best,” The Tenth Doctor winked. “Now, what’s the deal with the Dalek, eh?”

“Don’t you remember?” Asked the Eighth Doctor. “He’s my companion,”

“Oh, it can’t be…,” He murmured in reply.

The Eighth Doctor nodded.

“I haven’t seen him in ages!” The Tenth Doctor exclaimed excitedly.

Donna frowned in confusion.

“Two questions, spaceman. One: What is a Dalek? And two: Why would you travel with one?”

“It’s a long story,” The Tenth Doctor sighed.

Donna felt like slapping him. The Doctor could be so tricky sometimes.

“And I’m your companion, aren’t I? You better tell me at some point or you’ll be getting a smacking off one of these!”

The Eighth Doctor turned to the Tenth.

“Is she always like that?”

The Tenth Doctor smiled.

“Pretty much, yeah,”

Donna smacked her Doctor hard around the side of his face.

“OI!”

The Tenth Doctor rubbed his cheek in pain and apologized (although he wasn’t entirely sure what for) before turning his attention to a familiar-looking figure stood waiting in the distance.

“What’s a Sontaran doing here?”

“He killed my companion,” The Eleventh Doctor muttered. “So I’ll kill him in return,”

The other Doctors chased after the Eleventh; they weren’t going to let him make this mistake. Not this time.

“Come on! We both know that’s not the answer,” The Tenth Doctor called after him. “Why not solve it the way we usually solve things, eh? Through the power of words and speech and machines that make noises,”

The Eleventh Doctor scowled as he approached the Sontaran and directed the Sonic Screwdriver towards it.

“I’ve seen whole planets destroyed, companions die as a result of my dangerous lifestyle, civilizations placed into danger wherever I go. And I never do anything about it. Well, not now. Now I’m going to do something. Now I’m going to make my enemies pay,”

The Sontaran laughed and directed his weapon directly towards the Doctor’s head.

“A feeble attempt at a warrior’s speech, Time Lord. I don’t know why you want to defend your pathetic excuse for a comrade anyway. She was a silly little girl with the intelligence of a low-ranking Rutan,”

A thick crease appeared across the Eleventh Doctor’s forehead as he stared in fury at the Sontaran’s words.

“Don’t you dare call Clara a silly little girl,”

The Eleventh Doctor prepared to sonic however the Sontaran fled before he had the chance.

“Coward,” The Eleventh Doctor muttered, as he walked away from the other Musketeers, determined to settle the score on his own.

The Sontaran hadn’t won yet…

****************************************************************************************

Stacey McMarn stared in curiosity at the strange creature behind the cage. It had been brought to the rescue centre a few days ago; a shopkeeper had discovered it wandering the streets outside his gift shop and phoned the centre up. The rescue centre had send Stacey to recover it. What she hadn’t expected was to find a dog with transparent blue skin and sharp yellow teeth. It was a cute little thing; bounding about in its cage, always wanting someone to play. But it just looked so unnatural.

Just what breed of dog was this thing?

She was somewhat relieved to see some more normal dogs brought to the centre that day. Walking towards her were two people she recognized: Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. The actors who had played the Doctor and his companion whilst she still lived in the UK. They were carrying a couple of dogs inside a pair of dog crates, both ferociously trying to get out.

“What are you two doing here?” She frowned.

Christopher noted that she had a deep Italian accent and decided to play the role of the Doctor once again.

“Oh, we’re just passing through. Hello, I’m the Doctor-“ Christopher beamed.

“No you’re not!” Stacey interrupted. “Have you lost your mind?”

Christopher froze. He hadn’t thought of that. Had he just imagined the Doctor appearing in his life? Had this whole journey been a waste of time?

Perhaps Tian and her father Warsta were never really there? Or the Daleks all over London? Or anything he had seen since the Doctor entered his life?

“Christopher? Are you alright?” Billie asked, concerned.

“Yeah-I….mean no. I don’t know. What if I have lost it, Billie?” Christopher panicked.

Billie felt Christopher’s forehead.

“You do feel a bit hot,”

Stacey coughed.

“So…these two dogs? I’m guessing you came here to drop them off rather than discuss mental illness?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Billie nodded. “We found them in the newsagent’s,”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing in Italy?” Stacey asked curiously.

“We’re filming a Multi-Doctor Special for Series 13 of Doctor Who,” Christopher said unconvincingly.

“You…returning to Doctor Who?” Stacey scoffed. “Yeah, and pigs have developed their own form of space travel,”

“Never say never,” Christopher smiled, before he and Billie handed over the dog crates. “Tell me, have you seen anything unusual recently?”

Stacey looked taken aback.

“How did you know?”

Christopher grinned again.

“I didn’t. I guessed. So, what did you see?”

Stacey sighed as she opened the dog crates and wrestled the dogs into a single crate, shutting it tightly before they could get out.

“It’s a long story. But you can see it in the cage behind me,”

Stacey moved away to reveal the blue dog in the cage behind her. The dog bounded excitedly towards Christopher and Billie as they approached the cage and knelt down beside it.

“That’s definitely alien, isn’t it?” Billie asked.

Christopher nodded.

“I think so, which means I’m definitely not going mad,”

Billie stood back up; her knees were hurting from the kneeling on the metal floor.

“So how do we find out what’s going on here?”

Suddenly a dozen smartly dressed men in black burst into the room and surrounded the trio, their short pistols targeted directly towards them. Christopher, Billie and Stacey held their arms up in surrender and allowed themselves to be taken away.

****************************************************************************************

They were directed into a small office, where a man with a squat face sat behind a small wooden desk, on top of which sat a lamp staring at the newcomers to the office.

The men shoved Christopher, Billie and Stacey into three plastic chairs, which didn’t seem very comfortable.

“I’m guessing you’re wondering what’s going on?” The man behind the desk spoke.

“No, we just came in here for a cozy chat and a cup of tea!” Christopher replied sarcastically. “Why did your men lead us here?”

“This rescue centre is a secret base of operations for Fire House,” The man explained. “We know the Doctor showed you the other one. You see, we have bases all around the globe and each base has secret camera equipment installed. Just now we saw your chat with Stacey. We believe she knows too much,”

Stacey stared.

“’Too much’? I hardly know anything about what’s going on here!”

The man behind the desk smiled. So naïve, he thought.

“We don’t believe that. You were actually a part of our universe. The one in which the Doctor’s adventures are real. So tell me: how do you know of the actors Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper?”

“Are you trying to confuse me?” Stacey blinked. “Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper played the Doctor and Rose. The Doctor is not real,”

“Stacey, tell me. How much do you remember about your life as a child?” The man tried again.

Stacey thought back. Now she thought about it, she could not remember a thing.

Nothing.

Not even her parents.

Something was burning painfully in her pocket. She felt inside and took it out. It was her fob watch. Stacey opened the watch and memories flooded back in; memories of a time she didn’t recognize. A time where she was a secret agent.

Stacey was never an employee at a rescue centre.

Stacey had always been a secret agent for Fire House.

****************************************************************************************

Donna watched as Alexandre enthusiastically jotted into his notebook. She had no idea what he found to write about all the time but Donna had to admire his passion for it. They had returned to the TARDIS with the Doctor, who was studying the Eleventh Doctor’s actions on the TARDIS monitor.

“I think I’ll make you Constantine!” Alexandre beamed. “And you, young sir (he indicated the Doctor). You look like a d'Artagnan,”

“Brilliant!” TheDoctor turned round. “I’ve always seen myself as a bit of a d’Artagnan,”

“Just a few days ago, you told me you wanted to be called Alonso!” Donna pointed out to him.

“Well, that too. But we all change our minds, do we not?” The Doctor grinned at them, before returning to the TARDIS scanner.

“Wait a minute. Don’t d’Artagnan and Constantine have a thing?” Donna realized.

The Tenth Doctor frowned at her.

“A ‘thing’?”

Donna rolled her eyes.

“A romance, you dumbo. He’s writing us as a couple!”

The Tenth Doctor stumbled back into the TARDIS console in shock, accidentally sending it into flight as the time rotor began to slowly move up and down.

“NO! Why does everyone mistake us for a couple? We don’t even look like a model couple,”

“OI!” Donna snapped. “Are you criticizing my looks? You can’t talk yourself, stick insect!”

“What? No!” The Doctor exclaimed before turning back to look at the scanner. “I was just saying that- you know- we don’t look like an item,”

The Doctor frowned. On the scanner, the Eleventh Doctor was about to start up his TARDIS’s engines.

“No no no no no,” the Doctor muttered, before kicking the TARDIS console to stop the rotor moving and racing out the TARDIS.

****************************************************************************************

Donna and Alexandre followed him down a nearby alleyway to where another police box stood. The three of them barged in and the Eleventh Doctor jumped startled as they approached the console where he was stood.

“Doctor, don’t do this. At least not without us. We’re in this together,” The Tenth Doctor pleaded.

The Eleventh Doctor glared.

“Do you have any idea how this feels to me?”

“Don’t you dare,” The Tenth Doctor gritted his teeth. “Don’t you dare say that to me, Doctor. We are the same person. I’ve experienced as much pain and suffering as you. And you’re not going anywhere without the rest of us,”

The Eleventh Doctor hesitated for a moment.

“I have my scanner showing what goes on in here. So if you even try to go alone, I will find out. And I’ll follow you,” The Tenth Doctor continued.

“You’ll get a slap from me and all!” Donna shouted.

The Tenth Doctor stared at Donna in annoyance.

“Yes, thanks Donna,”

The Eleventh Doctor sighed.

“I suppose there’s not much point me going alone. Round up the other Doctors. We’re going after that Sontaran. And we’re going now!”

****************************************************************************************

The Doctors all met in the city square. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors had told them all to bring their Sonic Screwdrivers and TARDISes with them; TARDISes are, after all, quicker than horses they noted and Sonic Screwdrivers more powerful than swords. Luckily the Ninth Doctor always carried a spare Sonic Screwdriver inside his TARDIS, so although Christopher currently had his main one he wasn’t entirely without a Sonic device himself.

“So are we going to do this, then?” The Eleventh Doctor asked.

“YES!” The other Doctors roared as they drew their Sonics from their trouser pockets and stretched out their hands. “All for one and one for all!”

“Brilliant!” The Tenth Doctor enthused. “I’ve always wanted to say that,”

They walked in unison back to their respective TARDISes and shut the doors behind them. The TARDISes began to spin together away from the city square and towards the direction in which the Sontaran had fled that day.

On the path to revenge.

****************************************************************************************

Strax turned to see four TARDISes heading towards him and sprinted down the street, sending a mixture of men and women flying as he tried to lead the TARDISes to where they needed to be.

With his right arm, Strax held a button on a leather strap tied around his left wrist and spoke into four little holes similar to those on a telephone receiver.

“Strax to Cardinal. The Doctors are on my track. Over,”

****************************************************************************************

“We’ve got a message from Strax!” The Cardinal called from behind the desk in his office.

Missy entered the room, trying to shoot a gleeful look as if she actually cared about the current situation.

“It’s all going according to plan!” The Cardinal said excitedly.

Missy offered a thin smile.

“Perhaps you could do something for me after this, Doctor?”

He stared at her, a startled expression forming across his face.

“For you? You think I’d do something for you?”

“Well, I’m doing something for you. So you can do something for me!”

“No deal,” The Cardinal glared. “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

“What was that you told Strax to fake - killing Clara? You don’t really want her dead, do you?” She teased cruelly.

“If you lay one finger on Clara, I’ll send you to the Medusa Cascade,” He snarled in response.

“You wouldn’t dare, Doctor. You’re way too nice. You’re a big softy in those hearts of yours,”

Missy giggled and ran out of the room.

“You wouldn’t dare,”

****************************************************************************************

Christopher and Billie stared as golden energy flew into Stacey’s head.

“Would somebody like to tell us what’s going on?” Christopher asked.

“’Stacey’ was never ‘Stacey’ at all but one of our best agents,” The man behind the desk explained. “Her real name is Agent Sarah Mourn. She was a part of the Christopher Eccleston case,”

“All agents were told to use the Gallifreyan Chameleon Arch technology to hide who we were when our world and the real world merged into one,” Sarah continued. “It was partly a form of protection and partly a way to keep our operations more secretive so we would be able to stay undercover in case the Daleks found out what we were up to,”

“We couldn’t take any chances after one of our agents in London was exterminated by a Dalek,” The man added. “We tried to contact UNIT and Torchwood but they seem to be busy dealing with the different alien menaces which have emerged all around the world,”

“Hang on, you’ve never told us your name,” Billie said.

“Good point, Billie,” Christopher smiled.

“I’m Agent Daniel Craven,” He said, extending an arm to them.

Christopher and Billie both shook it politely.

“We’ve been looking into the blue dog case,” Daniel informed them. “The blue dog was brought into the same vet’s as those two dogs you passed onto us; the same day those dogs had an operation. According to the vet surgery, it was pretty hard to handle. Tell me: how have those dogs been acting recently?”

“Not very nice, to put it simply,” Said Christopher. “They’re a highly dangerous pair. They killed two people on the way to your centre. Just shredded them to death,”

“Was there any snarling? Barking? Were they unsettled?”

Billie nodded.

“They weren’t quiet at all,”

Agent Daniel stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Exactly how the vet’s described our blue friend. It seems these dogs have somehow switched personalities,”

“Do you have any idea how to put this right?” Billie asked.

Agent Daniel leaned forward.

“We need to put the dogs in the same cell as the blue creature. When the worlds fully separate from each other, their personalities will return to the right dogs. But we haven’t got long. The worlds are already starting to separate. We’ve already lost our Whetherspoon’s base in this world. So we need to get a move on. And fast. Sarah, I need you to help Christopher and Billie handle the dogs. Meanwhile, I’m going to get a cup of tea,”

****************************************************************************************

The TARDISes continued their pursuit after the Sontaran as he headed through towards the large castle gardens ahead.

“He’s straight ahead!” The Ninth Doctor called from his TARDIS.

The Doctors opened the TARDIS doors and aimed their Sonic Screwdrivers at the Sontaran, forcing him back with a sonic force stronger than the kind any of the Doctors had ever used before. The Sontaran fired repeatedly in response, however his attempts were feeble as the beams were evaporated by the sonic signals coming from inside the TARDIS doors. The Sontaran made to run into the grand castle ahead; noticing this, the Doctors landed their TARDISes on the castle grounds and ran after him, Donna and Alexandre following behind.

Waiting for them inside the castle hallways was none other than Cardinal Richelieu himself, a religious cross hung proudly across his neck as he approached them.

“Clara’s not really dead, you know,” The Cardinal said. “I just told Strax to stun her,”

The Eleventh Doctor’s eyes widened.

“Clara’s still alive?”

The Cardinal nodded and opened the door to the throne room to reveal Clara sat beside a guy who reminded Donna strangely of Rowan Atkinson.

Clara spotted the Eleventh Doctor and ran out excitedly.

“DOCTOR!”

The Eleventh Doctor hugged her protectively and turned to face the Cardinal again.

“You mean you put me through so much pain and suffering…and all this time, she was alive?”

“It was essential to draw you here,” The Cardinal replied.

“I hate you,” The Eleventh Doctor muttered darkly, before pointing his Sonic Screwdriver directly at Cardinal Richelieu.

The Cardinal took out his own Sonic Screwdriver (the Eleventh Doctor stared in amazement; it was the same design as his). Noticing this, the other Doctors decided to draw their sonic devices against the Cardinal also and they battled ferociously in the corridor, as if wielding heavy swords against one another in combat.

Alexandre studied the fight and wrote a quick description of what was going on. This was going to make a good book…

Donna studied the environment and noticed a chandelier above. Thinking quickly, she grabbed it tightly and swung into the Cardinal, knocking his Sonic Screwdriver out of his hand and sending him flying through the door opposite. Alexandre scribbled furiously into his notebook; Donna could see he was beginning to get giddy with excitement.

The Ninth Doctor stared at Donna.

“You’re not stupid,”

“Oi! You don’t have to act so surprised. Do I look thick or somethin’?” Donna glared.

The Ninth Doctor ignored her.

“You’re an ape…and you’re not stupid,”

Donna was livid.

“Do you want to call me that again, Granddad?”

The Tenth Doctor coughed and stepped between them.

“Better not. You won’t like it when she’s angry,”

As they turned to walk away, the Cardinal burst out of the door and chased towards them. The Doctors turned around and soniced at the Cardinal. The Cardinal, however, was too quick and soniced back. Donna, Clara and Alexandre quickly covered their ears as a loud high-pitched noise surrounded the corridor.

Unnoticed by the Doctors, Missy snuck into the corridor and aimed her Tissue Compression Eliminator at Clara. Noticing what was about to happen, Alexandre leapt in front just as Missy pressed the button on the back of the device and a large pink light hit him directly in the chest. All that was left was Alexandre’s notebook and pencil.

“You really shouldn’t kill people, you know,” Clara growled. “Because you just don’t know what others might do next,”

Clara snatched the Tissue Compression Eliminator off Missy and fired the device; in a puff of dust, Missy was gone.

“That’s for sending a Sontaran to kill me,” Clara spoke quietly.

Hearing her, the Cardinal (still pressing his Sonic Screwdriver) sighed and walked towards her.

“You’re not going to remember this anyway,” He said. “It wasn’t Missy who sent the Sontaran after you. It was me,”

Clara blinked.

“It was you? You’re just the Cardinal of this time period. What do you have against me?”

“’Against you’? Why would I have to have something ‘against you’?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Cardinal. You know full well that the Sontaran was supposed to kill me,” Clara pointed out.

The Cardinal was now stood inches away from Clara’s face.

“’Kill you’? He was never supposed to ‘kill you’. He was instructed to stun you. That’s why you survived,”

“Why did you need a Sontaran to stun ‘me’?” Clara asked, confused.

“To draw my past selves here. I knew that if you were to ‘die’, my previous incarnation would seek justice. Partly because I’ve lived through this before and partly using my own brain – which they don’t have,”

The other Doctors stopped sonicing (much to Donna and Clara’s relief).

“You made me think my companion was dead…just to bring me here?” The Eleventh Doctor said angrily, as he walked silently towards the Cardinal.

“It was of necessary importance,” The Cardinal replied.

The Eleven Doctor shook, years of rage from the Time War he had been holding inside about to be unleashed on a man he now despised.

“Do you have any idea how that feels?”

“I’m sorry,” The Cardinal looked away. “But I had to draw you here somehow,”

“What’s so important,” The Eleventh Doctor fiddled with his bowtie in frustration. “…that you had to convince me someone I care for and admire more than anyone else in the universe had died?”

“Do you remember anything of the Time War’s outcome?” He asked.

“It hasn’t reached a conclusion yet,” The Eighth Doctor said.

“It has. In my timeline,” Said the Ninth Doctor. “My planet burned,”

“My people along with it,” Continued the Tenth Doctor.

“However, it’s still out there somewhere. In a pocket universe. ‘Gallifrey falls no more’,” The Eleventh Doctor finished.

The Cardinal stared, then slapped his face in frustration.

“Oh of course, I’m a idiot,” He said to the Eleventh Doctor. “You’ll remember. You were the current Doctor in the original timeline where I died on Trenzalore. It doesn’t matter that I showed up. I broke through from the current timeline where I survive the battle of Trenzalore into your present and my one-that-no-longer-exists-because-it-was-rubbish-anyway timeline,”

“That’s right,” The Eleventh Doctor nodded. “You are an idiot. In more ways than one,”

The Cardinal screwed up his face in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

The Eleventh Doctor smiled.

“Geronimo,”

The Eleventh Doctor soniced at the chandelier; the chandelier broke from the ceiling and fell with a loud crash onto the Cardinal, causing him to squeal in pain and discomfort.

“Damn!,” He moaned. “This is the most humiliating day of all of my past twelve lives,”

“Might want to try using that brain of yours in my future, ‘Cardinal’,” The Eleventh Doctor said as he slowly walked away.

****************************************************************************************

Meanwhile back in Present Day Rome, Christopher and Billie watched as Sarah opened the dog cage containing the unruly dogs. The cage door swung open; Sarah attempted to catch them however it was too late. The dogs chased down the large corridor, dogs from all areas of the rescue centre whining and barking as they rattled in protest against their cages. Christopher, Billie and Sarah sprinted down the corridor after them, however they were too fast.

Panting, Christopher stopped for breath.

“Come on, Christopher!” Billie said. “We won’t stand a chance of catching them if we stop now,”

Christopher glanced at the dogs barking inside their cages.

“I think I might have a idea. How many dog leads do you have here?”

“Roughly?” Asked Sarah.

Christopher nodded.

“About eighty. One for each dog,” She replied.

“Where can we find them?”

“They’re usually in their cages,” Sarah said.

Christopher walked towards one of the dogs; a Dalmatian with an explosion of spots dotted around its body.

“I think these dogs need their walkies,”

****************************************************************************************

Christopher held on tight to the leads as an army of eighty dogs dragged him down the corridor at such speed that he was almost sent flying onto the metal floor. Billie and Sarah followed behind; in no time at all Christopher found the two dogs in the reception area of the rescue centre.

Billie couldn’t believe it. Christopher’s plan had worked.

However, just as they were about to approach the two dogs they turned towards Christopher’s little army and leapt towards the Rough Collie leading in front. The Rough Collie tried to fend the dogs as they mauled at its fur coat, sending blood and pieces of fur spinning out in all directions. The first dog gone, they turned to the other seventy nine; blood splattered noisily onto the windows as they tore into the flesh of a variety of breeds, leaving only bones behind.

As they focused their attention towards Christopher, Billie let out a deafening cry and leapt into the two dogs, pinning them to the ground of the reception area as they tried to bite at Billie’s hands. Thinking quickly, Sarah took out two small capsules and shoved them in the dogs’ mouths. The dogs lay silent as Sarah bent down and picked up the Jack Russell. Christopher attached a collar that belonged to one of the dogs to the Great Dane and led him back towards the cages.

****************************************************************************************

Once the dogs were placed in the same cage as the alien creature, Christopher, Billie and Sarah sat and waited on the floor for events to unfold.

Agent Daniel appeared with a tray of tea. Christopher, Billie and Sarah each gratefully took a mug as Agent Daniel sat next to them in anticipation.

“So, how exactly will we know when these worlds separate?” Christopher wondered.

Agent Daniel shrugged.

“I’m guessing there’ll probably be a natural disaster of sorts. Possibly an earthquake,”

The room fell silent as they sipped their cups of tea and stared at the cage. Eventually, the room began to shake causing the dogs and the alien creature to awake. Billie watched as a pulsing blue light shone on and off and the alien creature faded in and out of existence, the Great Dane and Jack Russell going from ferocious to gentle on a repetitive basis. Before long, the alien creature faded completely leaving only the Great Dane and Jack Russell in the cage.

“Let’s just hope their true personalities have returned,” Christopher murmured.

Billie tapped Christopher on the shoulder.

“Christopher…”

Christopher turned around.

“What?” He said, before realizing what had worried Billie. “Oh,”

Agent Daniel and Sarah were no longer there.

****************************************************************************************

Agent Daniel and Sarah stared at the cage as the Great Dane and Jack Russell disappeared, leaving only the alien creature in the cage.

Sarah let out a huge sigh.

“I’m going to miss Christopher and Billie,”

****************************************************************************************

“I think I know what’s happened,” Christopher said, as Billie frowned at the empty space where Sarah and Agent Daniel once were.

“Go on, then, ‘Doctor’. What’s happened?” Billie asked curiously.

“They’ve returned to the Doctor’s world. They weren’t a part of ours,” Christopher explained.

Billie nodded. That made sense to her.

“I’m guessing that means the plan worked, then, Christopher?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Christopher smiled at Billie before walking towards the cage and opening the door.

The dogs ran excitedly towards Christopher and pounded at his face, licking it out of sheer enthusiasm, their sloppy wet tongues dribbling saliva down towards his mouth and hitting his jacket below.

“Yep. It worked,”

****************************************************************************************

“I think we better check it worked. Don’t you?” Agent Daniel smirked as Sarah tried to fight back tears of no longer seeing Christopher and Billie again.

Sarah walked towards the cage and nervously opened the door. The alien creature leapt out; Sarah screamed as the creature tore apart the skin from her skull concealed underneath, the structure of her jaw beginning to appear from behind her face.

Agent Daniel just watched.

Watched. And sipped his cup of tea.

****************************************************************************************

The Tenth Doctor wiped the tears away from his face as he bent down and picked up the notebook that he had once given to Alexandre.

“Come on, Donna. We’re going,” He said.

They followed the other Doctors back to the TARDISes sat outside, each waiting patiently for their thief to return.

Donna laid a hand delicately on the Doctor’s shoulder.

“Hey. It wasn’t your fault. You know that, don’t you?”

The Doctor turned to look at her as he opened the TARDIS doors.

“If I hadn’t taken him with us, he would never have died,” The Tenth Doctor said silently. “I’m sorry, Donna. But it was absolutely my fault,”

“You need to stop blaming yourself. You did good. You always do good. It was that batty woman’s fault; it was her that killed him,” Donna pointed out.

The Doctor walked up to the TARDIS console and placed the notebook down next to the controls.

“Why do they always die, Donna? Why do people always die when I’m around?”

Donna squeezed the Doctor’s hand.

“Because you inspire them to do something right, Doctor. To do something good. Alexandre sacrificed himself to save another’s life. Isn’t that what you stand for, Doctor? Isn’t that heroic?”

The Doctor fell silent. She had a point.

“So what’s going to happen now that Alexandre’s dead?” Donna asked. “Won’t that change time?”

“No,” The Doctor said firmly. “I’m going to pose as Alexandre. Release The Three Musketeers and its sequels. As far as you lot will be aware, Alexandre will have been alive until 1870. But unknown to you, he continues to live on because I will continue to live on,”

“Doctor! That’s fraud!” Donna exclaimed in shock.

The Doctor shrugged.

“So? I’ve broken your laws before. I’ll break them again,”

The time rotor whirred in motion.

“So, Donna. Ready to visit the Eighteenth Century again?”

****************************************************************************************

Sarah tried to shake the creature off. It refused to budge; her skin around her skull was nearly all gone now. Soon, only her skull would remain.

Unless something happened soon…

A large whirring sound filled the air. The creature bounded off Sarah’s face startled and Sarah turned to face the source of the noise, her skin flapping off loosely at the movement of her head.

Stood in the corner of the room was a man Sarah recognized; dressed in a black leather jacket and matching trousers, carrying his small pen-like Sonic Screwdriver device.

“Hello,” He said. “I think you need a vet. A Doctor will have to do for now,”

The convention hall of Gallifrey One was huge and bustling with fans of all ages and sizes; Christopher could not believe how many Doctor Who fans had approached for his autograph during the day. He was sure he must have signed thousands of photos, and pieces of Doctor Who merchandise he didn’t even know existed.

He was on his break, interacting in deep conversation with a few other actors from the show who were also taking a breather from the convention work, when he was approached by a man who introduced himself as Jason Heigh-Ellery.

“So I wondered…” He continued, after he had given his name. “If you would be open to reprising your role on audio, for Big Finish Productions?”

Christopher gave a wild grin as he remembered the thrill of his recent adventures.

`’Of course. Why not?”

****************************************************************************************

Christopher laid back in the comfort of his bed; it was nice to be behind the bed sheets again. He needed a rest. Just as he had begun to close his eyes ready for sleep, however, there was a loud knock at the door.

Christopher groaned and got up, quickly dressing out of his pyjamas and walking down the stairs to answer.

“Hello,” Malekith said as Christopher opened the door and found the character he had played in Thor: The Dark World waiting outside. “Care to let me inside?”

Christopher yawned and rolled his eyes.

“Oh god. Not again,”