Never seen a crossover fic for these two universes. Decided to give it a shot on a whim. Let me know if I've done well or critically failed TOC For Easy Reading Part One - This Post Part Two - Link Part Three - Link Part Four - Link Part Five - Link Part Six - Link Part Seven - Link Part Eight - Link Part Nine - Link Part Ten - Link Part Eleven - Link *** The Doctor looked on listlessly. Nothing meant anything to him any more, not after what he’d had to do to Donna Noble, robbing her of the memories and times they had shared together had left him dead inside. That of course only brought on more memories. Nine hundred years of failures, nine hundred years of mistakes, missed opportunities… the things he could have done and the things he should have done… and the things he should never have even tried… the fiasco with the waters of Mars had only confirmed to him what an utter failure he could be at times. The TARDIS thrummed in response. A surge of warmth that both were and weren’t words. Images flashed through his mind of Rose, saving the world time after time after time, his countless triumphs, the innumerable souls who owed their lives to him however little they were aware of it. He stroked the TARDIS gently and appreciatively. He admired the effort but right now… right now he needed to feel this way. The pain he felt was natural and right… to feel nothing after what he’d done would have made him a monster. The TARDIS however had no wish to feel the Doctor wallow in his own misery over the next few centuries. On its own accord it lurched one way and then shambled another, sending the Doctor sprawling to and fro. “What?!” shouted the Doctor in surprise. He ran to the controls only to have another lurch throw him. “What!?” he exclaimed. The Doctor lunged for the controls just in time for the TARDIS to stop shimmying, which sent him flying unceremoniously into the console. On its own accord the TARDIS became quiescent, even on the mental bond it shared with the Doctor. It was akin to being in the middle of a heated argument only to have the louder and more obstinate part of the argument suddenly shut up and walk away. “What?!” he muttered before picking himself up. First thing was first. He checked the monitor to see exactly where the TARDIS had dropped him off. The monitor flickered static at him until he tapped it gently a few times. The image cleared and he saw a park at night in the rain. He thumped the image again, harder this time, to get more details. He was on Earth. That was a relief. In Tokyo... Japan! He hadn’t been there since he’d helped Susanoo fight a Hydra back in his younger days long before his granddaughter had been born… He swatted the memories before they could overwhelm him. His head was so thick with memories he swore he needed a bigger head to hold them all in there. As with all his decisions the Doctor decided in a snap that he’d go for a gentle stroll in the rain. There was nothing wrong with the TARDIS but some fresh air was definitely in order. Fresh air followed by tea. He’d checked the date and he was certain he’d be safe enough. Godzilla wasn’t going to attack the city for at least another eighty years anyway. *** Akitsu sat alone on a park bench as the rain cascaded down softly around her. People went about their business, walking by hurriedly to keep out of the rain, no one noticed her. Although she was draped immodestly in a white lab coat she may as well have been invisible. She looked down forlornly. Useless, she thought, I am useless and broken. No one will want to be my Ashikabi. The drizzling rain made her cold. Cold. It was one of the things she could still feel, all else was numb. As long as she was a discarded number, as long as she bore the Sekirei mark on her forehead, as long as she was… broken and useless, she would feel nothing else. She had once longed for an Ashikabi, once hoped that she would react to his presence and learn of a thing that humans had called love. Such hopes had left her long ago. MBI had seen to it in their… adjustments… that she could never be winged. Ever since then, bit by bit, parts of her had just shut down and withered away. She’d forgotten how to smile, how to laugh. Pleasure and pain were distant memories to her, long since replaced by sadness and melancholy. Even now she could sense even those feelings slipping away into nothingness. Every day that had passed since she had escaped from MBI had only allowed a gnawing numbness in her heart grow unabated. She sometimes wondered what would happen were that numbness to consume her… when even sadness and despondency abandoned her. She was well past caring at this point. “Hello! My name’s the Doctor, what’s yours?” asked a cheerful voice. Someone was talking to her? There was no mistaking to whom the voice had been directed… it was surprising… “Akitsu,” she said sadly, not even bothering to look up. “Akitsu! Lovely name! That means autumn moisture doesn’t it?” She looked at the source of the voice as best she could without moving her head. Why bother moving? He’ll just get tired of you and leave once he’s had his fun, she thought. She could see he was dressed in a blue suit and a brown trench coat. A shock of wild brown hair sat atop his head. His Japanese was excellent given that he was a westerner. She had the sense that he was well travelled... perhaps too well travelled for his own good. Try as she might, Akitsu could not stir up the effort to meet his gaze. The Doctor, noting her lack of response instantly realised there was something wrong with Akitsu. Just what was wrong was troubling him. He usually could tell fairly easily. What was it… the hair? No, it was a bit bedraggled but there was nothing unusual about that. Sitting in the park? No, parks were practically built for sitting in. The rain? He sniffed the rain and stuck his tongue out briefly to taste it. Nope. Good old regular city rain. Not quite as good as country rain but he wasn’t about to complain too much about it. Was it the odd tattoo on her forehead? That certainly rung a bell. Exactly which bell however was difficult to tell… he had far too many bells inside his head that tended to ring of their own accord every now and then, yet another reason to consider getting a bigger head. Aha! He had it! At last! With a flourish he peeled off his trench coat and draped it over her shoulders. “I’m not exactly an expert but ah… sitting out in the rain will probably give you a cold,” he said with a tenderness that contrasted from his earlier seeming joviality, “do you have a family? Anywhere to go?” “I have… nowhere to go,” she said monotonously. “What? Nowhere at all? No family? No friends?” he asked. Akitsu turned slowly to meet his gaze. For the first time sine meeting the Doctor Akitsu made direct eye contact. She saw a man. A man far older than he looked. A man whom had stared down the horrors of the universe. A man witness to its infinite beauty. She saw fire, and ice, and cold. She saw eternity and the ephemeral. For a single moment she saw ten faces with a hundred masks and a thousand names. For a single moment she saw the Doctor. The Doctor had also met her gaze. He saw in her… hopelessness. Melancholy. Sadness. More than that… he saw the death of happiness, the death of hope, he saw in her a despondency he hadn’t seen since… since… Since he’d last looked in a mirror. He had a sneaking suspicion that the Tardis had had a good reason for bringing him here and now. The Doctor stood up abruptly, breaking the momentary connection between them, and held his hand out towards her. “Come on,” he said tenderly, “I know a place that’s warm and dry.” The Doctor had tried to swear off taking companions since Donna Noble. They had all either wound up dead… or worse. His failure on Mars had changed him… both for the worse and for the better. Humans. They made him better… no matter how much he tried, he knew he could never last long without human contact. Every one of his companions had enriched him, and he in turn had enriched them. At times though he’d felt that they’d had a larger effect on him then he did them. Perhaps it was time to repay the debt with Akitsu. The question of the mark on her forehead, though it nagged at him, could wait until later. Akitsu looked at the Doctor’s hand and hesitated, but only for a moment. This man this… Doctor had shown her kindness, the first kindness she’d seen since escaping from MBI. In this Doctor’s eyes she had seen something she had never seen before in a human being. As she took his hand she felt a slight flutter in her heart. “Ashikabi…” she whispered softly as she felt the first faint glimmers of hope. *** Hiroto Minaka smirked as he watched over the closed circuit television feed of the park. “So, the broken bird I released has found someone to nurture her,” he said magnanimously. Takami stood nearby on a balcony with a half burned cigarette in hand and scoffed. “Are you disappointed that you can’t derive yet more cruelty from your insane plans?” she spat. “Not at all Takami!” he shouted grandiosely. Takami rolled her eyes. He was going into full blown speech mode again. “No! For the Sekirei plan is only just beginning! Akitsu is a wild card in this game! Anything could happen!” Anything at all, he mused. He studied the face of the stranger that had offered his hand to Akitsu. There was no doubt about it. The gods themselves had seen fit to send a champion of their own! He’d seen him arrive out of thin air from an unassuming blue box. Yes, the gods had truly smiled on Minaka’s plan. He was sure of it! But he was a man to play out wild cards while hedging his bets at the same time and he knew the gods to be fickle. The blue box was already on its way to MBI tower, to be sequestered until the Sekirei plan was finished. “Idiot,” muttered Takami before stalking out of the directors offices. Minaka grinned wildly as the light shone brightly off his glasses. Watching the Sekirei plan unfold with this new player was going to be… interesting. {Edit} Fixed capitalisation on TARDIS Currently working on Part 2 {Multiple Edits} Added in TOC. Latest addition has been Chapter 10. Enjoy Your easy navigation!
Bah. Its already been shown the TARDIS can't be hidden from the Doctor. He'd just pull out a key and it suddenly appears before him.
Whether or not he does, he's about to find out. And the Doctor, I believe, would not approve, not approve at all, of this Plan of his. And certainly not his methodology. I honestly don't think the Doctor is going to even bother to tell him to RUN, once he puts the pieces together.
Probably not. He'll leave Minaka Omnipotent and Omnipresent. Minaka finds out its not that great of a deal.
[Yt]SC0NuBaliLs[/yt] EDIT - The Doctor is not someone you piss off. Because when he gets angry... you will be sorry. Oh so sorry. He is feared for a reason, the same reason why Gods are feared. Their fury, their wrath are fearsome and legendary. And one day, eventually, maybe... he MIGHT forgive you enough to stop punishing you. But that day is very long in coming.
The Doctor may not have visited Japan since his first life, but it should still have recent associations for him, and they won't be pleasant. The Master destroyed Japan during the year that never happened. It's a pretty safe bet that he taunted the Doctor with this, showing him videos of the carnage or describing his genocidal brilliance to his captive in great detail. Thus, seeing Japan unmarred by the Master's malice ought to have some kind of emotional impact on him - perhaps confirmation that he can make a difference, perhaps dark memories of how it could have been.
Uh, didn't they react just a bit too quickly to having The Blue Box beam in ?? Most agencies go through an extended 'WTF' process... Unless, of course, they still have those 'Doctor' files that previous Doctor's virus cleansed from the public wwweb. In which case...
Well, the Doctor can summon the TARDIS so long as he as the key. But I'm dubious at the possibility of him having a major emotional backlash at Japan being intact. The Master wrecked the whole planet, not just Japan. It just doesn't seem to mesh with his character.
A/N Thank you everyone who left a comment! My muses feast upon them! I think it'd be a bit too easy for the Doctor if he could just grab his key and call his TARDIS back so I'm probably going to avoid that element and write it off as him absently leaving the key behind in the TARDIS. When the Doctor finds out about Minaka and the Sekirei plan... well... I have this image in my head. I don't think I've got the skill to pull it off convincingly but I'm going to give it a shot. May as well aim for the moon I'm trying to keep things somewhat straight with the established canon while reading between the lines and working through things that weren't exactly nailed down. A bit hard but I'd prefer to try not butchering what made both shows good in my eyes That includes referencing Geocomtex from Dalek which if I have my timey wimey ball straightened out (it's not) should have been about eight years ago in-universe, near enough in timeframe reference for most corporate types to recall that incident, I was thinking Enron at the time of writing. If they kept it quiet... corporate espionage Also, to pre-empt it, I know I made a contradiction as to whether the Doctor has visited Japan before. It's deliberate since he can be absent minded and self contradictory at times. So anyway, here's the second part. Currently working on the third, which will hopefully be longer than these two parts, I need to let a few ideas percolate. I'll include a TOC in the OP once I push the third part out for easy reference. Thanks again for reading and enjoy! *** Minaka knew it! He knew there was more to this stranger, this interloper in his Sekirei plan! Though nothing official had been recorded he’d known about a big stir with Geocomtex regarding this man this… Doctor. The files had had to be committed to paper. Computer records seemed to be unusually susceptible to viral attack. The records had been vague, without so much as even a picture… the only mentions were of a blue box, havoc, many deaths and Van Statten, an old rival of his, begging on the streets of Sapporo. The blue box was the key. He knew, as did some of his associates that at the key to every great disaster lay that blue box. Though the information was years old now he knew he had to do something. The database they’d recovered from the ship on Kamikura Island had yielded secrets that would help him contain this threat. “Takami!” he shouted in his usual manic glee, “Has the Temple of the Gods arrived yet?” “You mean that useless blue box? It’s been in holding for the last five minutes,” she said, “Idiot,” she muttered under her breath. Minaka heard every word but didn’t care one bit. He shot to his feet and pointed. “To the lab!” he yelled happily before tearing off in the direction he’d pointed. “Idiot,” muttered Takami before heading in the opposite direction. “Wait! Wait for me!” he yelled backpedalling as fast as he could. *** Akitsu felt the soft green grass under her bare feet. The soil underneath was slowly turning to mud under the soft patter of rain that was slowly but surely soaking everything it could. It felt nice. “What?!” exclaimed the Doctor. She saw him pacing about a particular patch of grass, one that had been flattened in the shape of a square. Though her face betrayed not a single emotion she thought him quite mad fretting about a patch of grass. “No, no, no, no, no! They’ve taken it!” he muttered. The Doctor concentrated. He could feel the TARDIS moving away from him rapidly. It was too fast to catch on foot, too fast to catch by bus. He wasn’t too concerned, for now. Nothing could possibly get inside and there was none of that electrical tang in the air that was indicative of a transport beam like what the Sontarans had tried to pull when they’d stolen his TARDIS which meant that it had simply been picked up and towed away. If that had happened it meant it was in the hands of human organisations like Geocomtex and their ilk, which of course meant that he could take his sweet time and waltz in the front door and take his TARDIS back anytime he pleased. Right now he had slightly more pressing concerns. “Ah, sorry bout that, lost something fairly important,” he said scratching his head absent mindedly, “let’s get you somewhere dry! I knew a great place not too far from here! Sold the greatest Sake in all of Japan! Of course that was back in about 600 BC and it was only the greatest Sake for about three days or so until it was all gone but the place is truly magnificent!” Akitsu simply followed the Doctor. He was mad. Completely mad. Not too unlike Minaka but somehow different. She felt his madness was a boon rather than a bane as though it were something that let him do extraordinary things and partake of extraordinary kindness. Kindness like looking after me, Her heart fluttered at the thought. “Here we are!” he proclaimed, “The… Love Motel?” he muttered, “What kind of a name is Love Motel anyway?” Akitsu quickly revised her assessment of madness being a good thing for the Doctor as he pushed his way through a side door. The Doctor entered with a flourish, intent on making one of his usual entrances to find… no one. He looked about in consternation but managed to refrain from saying ‘What’. “Oh! Right! Japan!” he said with dawning realisation and bonked himself on the head for being too thick to realise it. The whole process of getting a room for the night was automated. He pushed a bunch of buttons before realising probably, he glanced briefly at Akitsu and revised that to definitely, that he needed a room with a shower and had to start over again. He’d have much rather actually talked to a flesh and blood person but as they said, when in Rome… actually he’d been to Rome and even the Romans hadn’t bothered to do as the Romans did. Now the thing was asking for payment. “Ooh, money, I was never any good with money,” he muttered as he fished about for his Psychic paper. When he pressed the paper to the credit card reader a complex series of interactions took place. At first the reader was adamant that nothing at all had been inserted. Then it sensed that something had indeed been inserted, but that it wasn’t in fact a credit card. The machine was just about to reject the slip of blank paper in a huff when all of a sudden it sensed a magnetic presence. Irritably, if one could say that for a machine, it interrogated the magnetic data to find complete and total gibberish. It was just about to throw its very much proverbial electronic hands in the air when credit information started flowing into it. Figuratively grumbling, the machine processed the data and took its sweet time doing so as it passed on the information down the relevant paths to the higher bureaucracies of the Japanese banking system. After waiting a few seconds, practically an eternity to most computing systems, the banking system had approved the transaction as being one of MBI’s VIP accounts. Its job done the machine passed on the relevant instructions to vend the appropriate key and promptly shut down with a huff. The Doctor picked up the key to his room. “Allons-y!” he exclaimed. *** Takami rolled her eyes. Minaka was practically drooling over his ‘prize’, his ‘gift from the gods’. “It’s a blue box you idiot!” she yelled. She rapped it hard on the side. “It’s even made of wood!” “Such a clever disguise! Only the mad or the magnificent would suspect its true nature!” proclaimed Minaka. Takami pulled out yet another cigarette and lit up. The only thing magnificent she saw in the room was the depths of madness Minaka had sunk to. This obsession of his with that damned box had almost derailed his other obsession with the Sekirei plan. Almost. The damned fool honestly believed the complete and total nonsense he spouted… the Sekirei plan was as pointless and useless as the damned box he was fawning over. The only reason he was still in charge of MBI in any sense of the word was because anyone who dared challenge Minaka openly tended to wind up dead or worse. Only Takami had any leeway to challenge Minaka and even then, only as a kind of twisted muse to his madness. If she was going to challenge Minaka she would have to move certain individuals into the right places in the company, a plan that was already quietly in motion, and ensure that her timing was impeccable. If she moved too soon the Discipline squad would turn her to paste in spite of all the work she’d put into each and every Sekirei. Too late and she’d miss the opportunity in its entirety. She’d have to wait until the Discipline squad had their hands full and that in turn meant waiting until the Sekirei plan was further along. “Fine. Do whatever you want. I’m going back to the lab,” she snapped. Takami stalked out of the holding area and made her way to the freight elevator. When the doors closed, she thumbed a series of floors in sequence, hesitating five seconds before pushing the final button. The panel quietly popped open to reveal a smaller hidden panel inside with six buttons. She punched the button for the fourth floor and felt the elevator lurch down as she quietly closed the main panel again. She relaxed as she entered the fourth floor of MBI tower, a little secret she’d managed to keep from Minaka. Even security didn’t know about the fourth floor. Soon enough her little program in MBI’s security system would activate and insert a false feed of her making her way to her labs over the security cameras, all the better to not arouse suspicion. With a relaxed familiarity she entered her real lab. Officially, the Sekirei plan was a battle royale to decide who would ‘ascend’ or whatever nonsense Minaka had spouted. Unofficially it was more akin to a deathmatch. Minaka’s orders had been that any Sekirei terminated on the field of battle were to be ‘Disposed of’. Even more unofficially, Takami had been recording those Sekirei as successfully ‘Disposed of’ whilst funnelling them here to the fourth floor. She shook her head as she read the file for one of half a dozen Sekirei recovering from their wounds in battle. At this early stage none of them had been winged, instead they had been eliminated by other Sekirei seeking to shape the battle to come. Fortunately their injuries were minor and they would recover in time. Unfortunately Minaka had filled their heads with his poison about destiny and the gods. Most of them truly believed that they had been forsaken, never to find their destined Ashikabi and disgraced in the earliest stages of the Sekirei plan as too weak. Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. “The files you asked for, Takami,” said Number 55. Her name is Saki, she reminded herself, I have to remember I can think of them as people on this floor. “Thank you Saki, please tend to the others as I showed you,” replied Takami. Saki did as Takami had asked. Sadly she had been amongst the first Sekirei to be eliminated before finding an Ashikabi and the first to recover. Now she was acting as a nurse to those too injured to tend to others and Takami knew she’d soon need as many assistants and nurses as she could safely train working on this floor. She could sneak in individual Sekirei and supplies here from time to time but she truly doubted she could bring in all the specialists and doctors she’d need and keep this place a secret. The only way to get the staff she needed and keep things under Minaka’s nose would be to train the Sekirei that recovered to assist the injured as they came in. In time the numbers here would grow, hopefully not so fast that the injured would go untended, and when the critical time came to decapitate Minaka as the head of MBI she knew more than a few Sekirei that would grace these wards would be more than willing to give her the physical clout she’d need to make sure it stuck. Takami smirked at the irony of using the Sekirei plan against Minaka. The fool was going to pay.
I should note that the 10th Doctor didn't really pull the Tardis teleports to him trick, and didn't seem to have it (he likely could do it, but it is quite possibly damaged enough to not do so). Also, the Doctor HAS been shown to know how to handle money issues. Sonic Screwdriver on ATM machines... and suddenly withdrawal of ALOT of money. ^_^;;;
Soon all of Japan will tremble before The Oncoming Storm. And if The Storm's not enough he can pull in UNIT.
The room was utilitarian and simple, nothing at all fancy, not that the Doctor needed somewhere particularly nice, it had a double bed, simple carpeting, with an adjoining shower and separate bathroom. Akitsu followed him in, eying the room with cold apathetic indifference. “I’m afraid all the rooms had double beds,” said the Doctor as he leapt onto the bed and lay back, “You’d think a place like this would have some rooms with single beds in it. Oh look! Sweets!” He picked up a random coloured package sitting in a bowl by the bed and quickly revised his earlier enthusiasm for sweets before tossing the package back into the bowl where he’d found it. “I’m forgetting something aren’t I?” he asked Akitsu. She looked on in her lab coat draped by the Doctor’s trench coat without saying a word. The mark on her forehead still teased at him. He could have sworn it had some kind of importance. “Oh! Yes!” he exclaimed, leaping off the bed, “No… yes! YES!” The doctor thumped his head as hard as he could, “Oh I am SO THICK!” He leaped off the bed and collected the room’s key card. “I’ll be right back! I’ll see about finding you some clothes!” The Doctor was out of the room before Akitsu could utter a word. She stood there dripping and cold. Is he coming back? She thought, What am I supposed to do? What should I do? Other questions played out through her mind. Was she allowed to act on her own? He hadn’t given her any orders. The promise to bring back clothes seemed to indicate he would return but it could just as easily have been a ploy to gently abandon her because she was useless. What little she knew of this Doctor seemed to indicate he was a complete lunatic… albeit a compassionate one. She glanced at the shower. It would be nice to feel warm again, she thought. *** The Doctor had officially invaded the women’s fashion section of a 24 hour department store. Fortunately as far as the Doctor’s invasions went it all involved a lot of manic running and very little by way of violence. “Dress? No. Scarf? No. Heels? Blimey!” he muttered as he went through clothing like a madman not in the least caring about the odd looks he was getting from a few of the late night customers, “If I ever, EVER, regenerate as a woman… I’ll be lost! I don’t know a bloody thing about…” He trailed off as he heard a familiar tune. Baby, baby, baby You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child Don't say maybe maybe It's supernatural, I'm comin' undone He glared upwards at the departments PA system and surreptitiously flicked his sonic screwdriver hoping for a somewhat less offensive tune. The song bore painful memories of the year that never was, ones he preferred not to relive right now. I have wandered, I have rambled I have crossed this crowded sphere, And I've seen a mass of problems That I long to disappear. Now, all I have's this anguished heart, For you have vanished too. Oh, my girl, my girl, my precious girl, Just what is this man to do? Much better, he thought as he tried to guess Akitsu’s measurements for her underclothes. He quickly gave up guessing and simply went for a good range of sizes hoping for the best. Gathering his items he darted out of ladies fashion and practically bowled into a mannequin showing off a stylish purple dress. The Doctor yelped and scurried back a few feet before getting a hold of himself. Not an Auton, he thought, Just a mannequin. A regular old plain as plastic mannequin. Then the mannequin moved. “What?!” he cried out. The mannequin paused for a few moments before taking a different pose and pausing once more, each pose attempting to show off the dress to best effect. Fortunately only one of his hearts had had an attack. “Oh right… Japan,” he muttered and picked himself and his effects up. *** Akitsu dried herself off dispassionately. The shower had been… disappointing. All she had felt had been hot water playing on her skin, face and hair. She knew how a shower was supposed to feel like, had seen others enjoying theirs before the Sekirei Plan had come to fruition… yet she felt nothing of the sort. She’d felt the water pattering against her skin… information before the senses and nothing more. It was annoyingly inconsistent, the way she could only sometimes enjoy what her senses were telling her. The mud under her feet in the park and the rain pattering against her had felt nice. She wished that she could make sense of it all, could understand what was wrong with her. When in the shower that internal feeling of pleasure had become numb and insensate, as though something had broken inside her. At other times however, the phenomenon would reverse. Her body would feel numb and insensate to the world while she boiled in an ocean of feelings that bore no restraint… feelings she could never hope to express because her body numbed into stubborn stillness whenever she tried to express or show those feelings. She could never find the middle ground, could never walk the path between being numb and sensuality. Some part of her was broken. She knew that. She felt that. A barely audible sigh escaped her lips, it had been the most emotion she’d shown for the entire day, and stared into the mirror at the mark emblazoned upon her forehead. It was an eternal mark against her being, a permanent reminder that she was broken… useless… a discarded number whom could never be winged, would never find her Ashikabi, could never recite a Norito nor participate in Minaka’s Sekirei Plan. It was then that a curious thought occurred to her. If she could never be winged, if she could never recite a Norito, if she could never participate in the Sekirei plan… then did that not also mean she could never be defeated? Her mark was different from others, this she knew, and no touch from another Sekirei, even with recitation of their Norito would dissolve her mark. MBI did not consider her a part of the plan and with her power, few could hope to defeat her in single combat. Perhaps I am merely different, not broken… she mused. She looked to the door of the room and yawned sleepily. Perhaps the Doctor would come back after all. *** All his instruments insisted on the same insipid reality that Minaka knew not to be the case. For all intents and purposes, the blue box was just that, a blue box. Blue paint, wooden, and with a phone that obviously did not work. And yet it was a blue box that seemed to have been plucked from 1950’s England and dumped at random in a Tokyo park in the 2020’s. The CCTV footage he’d managed to retrieve showed this blue box materialising from nothing. A camera on a different angle had recorded the doors opening to reveal the Doctor… and an interior that was apparently far in excess of its external dimensions… larger on the inside than it was on the outside. Minaka was drooling with anticipation of just what MBI could do with such miraculous technology… If only he could penetrate the damned blue box and get inside. To that end Minaka had been referring to the database he’d retrieved from the crashed ship on Kamikura Island. What parts had been translated spoke at length of the time of the gods, when the heavens themselves had been set ablaze in a celestial war that had raged throughout the universe, a war that had, in the end, consumed the gods themselves, bringing about an age of darkness that all life now dwelt within. But the database had more than the mere folklore of the race that had cast 108 survivors off into the void. It held vitally important information. It mentioned a grand trickster, a supreme angel of death bathed in the blood of a billion galaxies that had brought about the final, bloody end of the celestial war. It spoke of his people, of their ingenuity and of their decadence. It spoke of the man who burned in the centre of time and brought the gods themselves to their knees. “Hmmm, this Doctor…” mused Minaka to himself as he pored over his notes, “He could be a threat to the Sekirei Plan…” He knew he was putting it mildly. For a moment Minaka wished Takami were here. She’d stalked off a while ago, leaving him to the blue box. What would she say if she were here? Probably call me an idiot, he thought, although, she’d probably snark about how I should just arrest him… His train of thought ended there and he leapt to his feet. “OF COURSE!” he cried as ideas careered about in his mind at breakneck speed. This Doctor had not merely arrived by chance. He couldn’t have! He’d arrived for a purpose! A reason! For his Sekirei plan! Whether this Doctor intended to participate or disrupt the plan was immaterial to Minaka. He already had a plan to involve this Doctor in his Sekirei plan and remove him as a factor at the same time. After all, he was the Game Master, was he not? He cast about maniacally for his organiser. He had a grand announcement to make and not much time to work on it. *** The Doctor trundled into the room with several shopping bags in tow and a pack of jelly babies stuffed into one of his pockets. He was about to extol the virtues of jelly babies when he noticed the subdued lights and the sleeping bump that Akitsu made in the room’s only bed. He quietly set aside the spoils of his shopping trip, being careful not to wake her. For a moment he debated whether to just climb in bed or sleep on the floor out of respect for her personal space. The floor looked every bit as uncomfortable as it sounded… and Akitsu had only taken up half the bed, leaving the other half open and inviting for him. He reasoned that so long as he remained on his side and she hers all would be well. With a sleepy yawn he clambered into bed, shut off the lights and promptly fell asleep. *** Uzume sat beside Chiho’s bed as she slept peacefully. The doctors said she was rallying again… if the morning weather held up she might even be allowed to take Chiho out briefly for some fresh air… they both enjoyed that immensely. If her condition could be reversed, they’d never have to keep such excursions brief and short. Uzume wanted to see the world with her Ashikabi, to climb the highest mountains, to enjoy the fresh sea air and to look upon the vast open sky with Chiho by her side. Uzume looked again at the young woman that was her Ashikabi. The day they had met… Uzume had been sitting on a rail thinking idly. Chiho had thought she was trying to kill herself and had raced to save her, only for them both to fall… and be saved by Uzume in turn. If it hadn’t been for the way they’d met Uzume could almost believe that fate had rewarded her cruelly with Chiho. Almost. She cherished her Ashikabi… she loved Chiho with all her heart. She would do anything for her. She would wade through mud, debase herself and even fight dishonourably if it would mean that her Ashikabi could have a fighting chance against the sickness that ravaged her body. A soft knock disturbed Uzume’s thoughts. Shaking her head, she rose quietly leaving a soft kiss on Chiho’s cheek and made for the door. Outside, Kakizaki adjusted his glasses and handed her a letter. “Your next target, all the information is inside. Higa also passes on his compliments on your work so far,” said Kakizaki. “Higa can choke on his own bile,” spat Uzume, giving Kakizaki a withering glare, “Will my Ashikabi get the treatment she needs?” “All in good time,” said Kakizaki before walking away. Uzume gazed longingly at Chiho’s room before she sadly left to do more of Higa’s dirty work. *** A/N This took a little longer since I actually plotted this part out in advance in addition to the next part... that and work / family have been keeping me a bit busy. I initially wrote the scene involving the moving mannequins without knowing that there are in fact actual moving mannequins around today... I figure that by 2020 they'll be commonplace enough to just bump into at random, I also figured the Doctor would get a tiny bit of fright at seeing mannequins move ala the Autons. For the curious, the songs referenced are Rogue Traders - Voodoo Child and Love Don't Roam. Enjoy!
Very interesting. Would be a-lot more interesting if I read Sekirei. And its always the same save the universe from the greatest threat ever and get called a monster.
If I'm reading the timing correctly, the Doctor is from right before the Waters of Mars, and The End of Time.... this could be very bad as he was at that point about to cross the thin line of fixing things because he could, to hell with time and reality. Also, he got the various warnings about his approaching death.
The timing for the fic is just after the Waters of Mars and before The End of Time, though it could work just as well before the Waters of Mars with a few corrections. Anyway, here's Part 4 fresh out of a creative fit. Enjoy! *** Sahashi Minato scoffed yet more of the Miya’s well prepared, filling and exceptionally tasty breakfast as fast as he could scoff. After a night of tossing and turning and a dream about rescuing lost little girls, Minato felt that a good breakfast was just the thing he needed. Kagari was also wolfing down his food, apparently something had come up with his hosting work and they’d called him in. Musubi, Minato’s Sekirei, was taking things somewhat more easily having nowhere to work except for the routine chores that Miya had graciously tasked her with. The relative peace of breakfast was soon interrupted as a nearby television switched itself on. “Attention Ashikabi and Sekirei! I, Hiroto Minaka, your Game Master, address you!” announced Hiroto with a touch of magnificence about himself, “Today we have a unique opportunity! Within the Botanic Gardens is a young Green Girl. The first Ashikabi that gets to her may claim her as his Sekirei!” Kagari nearly choked on his breakfast. Takami had had him ward off several opportunistic Ashikabi and their Sekirei as an attempt to protect her… now with Minaka’s announcement his work had just become nigh insurmountable. “But that is not all! MBI has identified an interloper, a dangerous criminal! Anyone who can bring this fugitive to MBI tower will be given anything that is within the power of MBI to grant! Study his face well for he walks amongst you somewhere in Tokyo!” A grainy still photo of a westerner appeared. Though the picture was low quality one could make out most of the features, the shock of wild hair and eyes that seemed far older than his face would suggest. The television then seemed to shut itself off… but for Sekirei, a secret message continued. “Attention Sekirei! Heed these words and keep them from your Ashikabi! Only you can hear and see this message from your Game Master! It has come to my attention that many of you have been forcibly winged by cruel, abusive Ashikabi who care nothing for your heart or your destiny! Though such things are part of the Sekirei Plan, I offer you an opportunity. Bring the fugitive to me and MBI can reverse the bond you have, freeing you to find your true Ashikabi! I wish you all the best of luck!” Kagari glanced at Musubi and then quickly to Miya. Not one of them showed outwardly having heard the message. He did his best to pretend that he’d heard nothing at all after the initial public transmission. “The green girl in the park?” said Minato more to himself than to anyone else, remembering his dreams from the night before and the ghostly apparition when he and Musubi had fallen into that tree. “The one from your dream?” said Musubi as she clung to Minato’s arm. She’d heard the message from Minaka and had no wish to be free of her bond to Minato. Even so it would be tempting to go after the ‘fugitive’ if only for the offer that was openly on the table… a wish that was within MBI’s power to grant. She already knew what she wanted… she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Minato. “Yes. Perhaps I can look for her after work…” said Minato. Kagari nearly choked again. Though he led a double life of sorts as Homura, protector of unwinged Sekirei there was no way he’d let anyone forcibly wing number 108 without a fight. Minato had dreamt of her… which meant he was reacting to her in the fashion that destined Ashikabi did. He seemed nice enough but in Kagari’s mind Kusano was still too young by far. “I’ll look for her Minato! I won’t let you down!” shouted Musubi enthusiastically. “Didn’t the message say that Ashikabi had to find her?” said Minato. “Don’t you have chores that need doing?” interjected Miya in a sweet hannya way. “Ah… um… right… yes… chores…” said Musubi, afraid for her life. Miya had a way of instilling mortal fear into just about everyone she met that displeased her. Whenever she spoke like that it was as though all the demons of hell itself were three feet behind her just waiting for an excuse. It was a feeling that could only be dispersed by saying exactly the right thing to Miya as quickly and as honestly as possible. Nobody in Izumo House wanted to see the results of crossing Miya. Nobody. “Well, I need to go, I’m late for work already,” said Kagari as naturally as he could. “Will you be coming home for dinner Kagari?” asked Miya. “No, I’m having another late night,” said Kagari… which was true enough. As soon as he was out of sight, Kagari leapt into action and disguised himself quickly as his alter ego, Homura. He could already see several Ashikabi and their Sekirei closing in on the park. With flames in hand, Kagari knew he had his work cut out for him. *** The Doctor woke up bright and early. He hadn’t been all that tired and wasn’t really that much of a fan of sleeping much at all really, preferring to wring as much value out of his days as he could. He was about to toss off the covers and have a quick shower when he realised quite belatedly that he had apparently grown a second set of arms. “Four arms?” he muttered, “Four arms! Fantastic!” He could already imagine what he could do with four arms! He could pilot the TARDIS twice as well! He could wave to twice as many people as he could before! He could get dressed and attend to his hair at the same time! He could even- His train of thought took an abrupt turn when he realised that his new second set of arms were somewhat daintier than his usual pair. Furthermore, they seemed to stretch back a fair bit further than he himself did. His eyes roved back, following where the arms went until he craned his neck to see that Akitsu had snuggled up close in the night and had him locked in an embrace. “Ah, well, that explains that… pity about the arms though,” he mused somewhat sadly… he’d really been looking forward to have a second pair of arms. Akitsu, unconsciously sensing that the Doctor was awake tightened her embrace, practically squeezing into him. “Oh! Well! Um! Oh dear!” stammered the Doctor apprehensively as he realised that Akitsu seemed to very much favour sleeping in the buff, “Um, Akitsu… Akitsu could you wake up?” Akitsu’s sleepy grey-brown eyes slowly fluttered open and her face settled from a relaxed sleepy expression to the cold drowsy one she normally wore while awake. “Ashikabi?” she uttered softly. The Tardis translation for ‘Ashikabi’ had several bents in it. It worked out to: Friend, Companion, Lifemate, Husband/Wife, Genebinder and… disturbingly… Master. Overall, a very broad term… the Doctor preferred to think of the word as closer to Friend / Companion than all of the other deeper connotations, though even Companion was pushing it all told. The sooner he found a safe place for her and retrieved his TARDIS the better it would be for the both of them. The last thing he needed was someone close to him to get hurt. Again. “Call me the Doctor,” he said warmly, before glancing up at her forehead and locking his gaze on her Sekirei mark. “Doctor,” she said. “Excuse me, can I just…” he said as he brushed her hair aside. For the first time the Doctor actually, properly looked at the mark instead of just noting it as interesting and leaving it at that. The more he tried to look at it the more something seemed to nag at him to not look at it. “Interesting…” he said, reaching for his glasses and sonic screwdriver. After a moment to sonic the glasses he slipped them on and took another good look at her mark. “Aha! Oh yes! Quite brilliant!” he exclaimed. “Doctor?” asked Akitsu. “Your uh… tattoo,” he said, “Very interesting! Whoever did this to you went out of their way to build in a perception filter! Bit like how the TARDIS disguises itself… it’s sort of like that Somebody Elses Problem field from the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and I should know since I gave Douglas Adams the idea…” Akitsu shot the Doctor a perplexed look. “Perception filter?” she imitated imperfectly by way of question. “Oh, uh… it kind of makes you… not really notable unless you do something to stand out. That’s why all those people were passing you by without a second glance. It looks like it’s been set so that only a few special types of people can see it… the only reason I can see it at all is… well, that’s not important… it can’t seem to figure out what I am so it sort of swings back and forth between wanting to be seen and not wanting to be seen and whoever did this was absolutely BRILLIANT... I mean, who manages to work a perception filter into a tattoo of all things? That’s like making fire from ice… doable but why all the bother? Who did this to you by the way?” “MBI,” replied Akitsu. “MBI?” asked the Doctor. “MBI,” confirmed Akitsu “A cult? A company? An organisation? A government agency? A club?” probed the Doctor. “Company,” replied Akitsu. “Ah, well…” said the Doctor, “Why don’t we pay them a little visit after breakfast eh?” *** Minaka reclined in his chair comfortably feeling quite pleased with himself waiting for his tea to cool. His message had gone off without a hitch. He’d been most pleased with the Subwave network technology appropriated from the Mr. Copper foundation… quite possibly one of the most useful pieces of software he’d managed to acquire being able to intelligently find and contact whoever he wanted to contact, doing so discreetly and untraceably. Even Matsu, thorn in his side though she could be at times, would be hard pressed to track a subwave signal. The Doctor was still very much at large but he had confidence he’d be in his custody soon enough. In truth this manhunt of his was as much a test as it was a genuine attempt to reign in a potential threat. He’d set an unofficial time limit on his offer to the Sekirei of three days. If the lesser Sekirei he’d released could bring him in inside that time limit, then the Doctor was probably not nearly as problematic as he’d suspected and he could stay the course after incarcerating him safely away where he could affect little of consequence. If however he could evade capture… well, there were reasons he kept the Disciplinary Squad in his pocket. Minaka then remembered to check his watch and counted off the seconds… 3… 2… 1… “YOU IDIOT!” roared Takami as she burst into his office. Right on time, he thought with a smile on his face. “Did I leave the kettle on again? I really should get my secretary to make me my tea,” he said, feigning ignorance. “You know what I’m talking about!” snapped Takami, “You throw Kusano to the wolves before we’ve even finished with her adjustments and then you make promises you know we can’t keep!” Minaka smiled. He loved pushing Takami’s buttons… it was often so difficult to get a reaction out of her that fell outside of her normal patterns. Seeing her like this reminded him of old times. “The Sekirei Plan marches on whether we are ready for it or not,” replied Minaka to her first point, “And our research in reversing the Sekirei bond with their Ashikabi proceeds apace… sooner or later we’d have to go with live test subjects. Cell cultures will only take us so far!” “None of those cell cultures have survived Minaka. What do you think will happen when we expose a Sekirei to that process after she’s been bonded with her Ashikabi, willing or not?” “If it is the will of the Gods that the Sekirei do not survive the process then so be it,” said Minaka as he reached for his tea. Takami slapped the tea out of his hands in indignation. The cup sailed out of his hands and shattered on the ground with a crash, spilling hot tea onto the floor. Minaka irritably stood up and leaned over his desk, coming within inches of Takami’s face. “It is your job to make the process work,” he said through gritted teeth, “Or perhaps you enjoy seeing Sekirei being abused by their Ashikabi?” “The process is not ready,” growled Takami in return, “I’m not sure if it will ever be ready. You cannot go and make promises to those people that neither you nor I can keep. False hope is worse than none at all in the end.” “Therein lies your problem, Takami. You think of them as people… not as the instruments of the Gods!” said Minaka as he adopted a grandiose pose, “Does a hammer question a carpenter? Does a pen challenge a writer? Does your computer resist its purpose? When the Sekirei have fulfilled their purpose the time of the gods shall begin anew! You and I will have been instrumental in its rebirth!” “And Takehito?” countered Takami. The wind practically flew out of Minaka’s sails. The grandiose pose he’d struck withered into slumped shoulders. She’d struck an old wound squarely, an old wound that both of them shared. “Get out,” he said flatly. Takami turned and made for the door, her point made. She paused for a moment at the threshold and looked back to Minaka. “If she ever finds out,” said Takami, “She’ll have your head. You know that.” “And yours for keeping the truth from her, Takami,” said Minaka, his voice dead. She nodded. Takami had known the price for her silence on the matter and would pay it when the time came. Head hung low, she left Minaka’s office. Minaka glanced at the shattered teacup and shook his head. He sat back at his desk and pulled a bottle of clear fluid and a small glass. He felt the need for a drink and tea was not going to cut it. He poured out a shot and sculled it before pouring out another shot. He held the glass out in front of him, letting it refract the view of Tokyo through its clear on clear depths. “Takehito,” he said softly.
