Somewhere Back in Time 19/21
Title: Somewhere Back in Time (chapter 19)
Author: rose_of_pollux
Rating: eventual PG13
Summary: Sequel to Red Sky. Mr. Zero had promised that it wasn't over. Now, he's ready to inflict more misery upon our heroes as they find themselves on the run again--through the very depths of the space-time continuum.
In this Chapter: The quartet gets messages from two different sources.
Warnings: There will be perilous situations in later chapters. Also, this is a Doctor Nez fic, so wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey elements will be ahead, as well.
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Pairing: None
Main Character(s): Mike, Davy, Micky, Peter, Mr. Zero
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for the OCs), and the story is; fictional personas from the TV show.
Notes: N/A
Chapter 19: Notes
The quartet now reappeared a few yards from where Mike had left the El Dorado. Mike, Davy, and Peter were trying to recover from that narrow escape. Micky, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful.
“That was amazing,” he said, grinning broadly. “That was awesome, Man. That was the most fun I’ve had in long time! That was-”
“-Something I never want to do ever again,” Mike finished.
“Glad someone enjoyed it, at any rate,” Davy agreed.
“I gotta go along with them this time, Micky,” Peter added.
Micky shrugged.
“Well, it doesn’t matter; we got the page, we got the weirdo wristwatch, and we are good to go!”
“Now that, I can dig,” Mike said.
He led them to the time machine, but paused as he saw a note attached to one of the doors.
“Don’t tell me we were ticketed for double-parking…” Peter said.
“It’s not a ticket,” Mike said, grimly, as he removed it from the door. “It’s worse-a note from old Zero himself.”
“I wondered what had happened to him,” Davy groaned. “I knew it was too good to be true when he stopped following us…”
“What does it say?” Peter asked.
“Is it too much to hope that it’s a note of surrender?” Micky asked.
“Shush,” Mike said, and he held it out for all of them to read.
My sincerest congratulations on winning this round, as well as all of the previous ones, Nesmith. But your victories will end now. As I mentioned to you in our last encounter-before the four of you so rudely ran off after those mobsters, I might add-I realize that I have been going about this all wrong. I made sure that specific pages from the Book of Ages went missing-pages that mentioned you-in the hopes that you would become stranded and separated in the past. I put you through a series of difficult challenges, due to the content of those pages. Clearly, my plan has failed.
You will understand, of course, that I simply cannot allow this to continue. It doesn’t look right for me to be belittled in such a manner by four no-name musicians with no magical powers.
Your strength is drawn from each other; I see that very clearly now. And while I thought it would be possible to devise trials and tribulations that could succeed in tearing you apart, it seems that plan is impossible.
To that end, I have devised a new plan-one that is sure to succeed. There is more than one way to try to tear the four of you apart; I shall save the juiciest of those ideas as a backup plan if this one should fail. However, I am confident that I will succeed-it is all too easy to tear apart those who have never been together.
The note ended abruptly, at that point, leaving the quartet exchanging nervous glances with each other.
“What did he mean?” Davy asked.
“Well, he did say that chasing us was more trouble than it was worth; it looks like he’s going to try something else,” Micky said. “The question is… ‘What?’”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” Mike said, grimly, as he unlocked the doors of the El Dorado and allowed them entry.
Micky handed Peter the page from the Book of Ages, and the blond let out an exclamation of surprise as he placed the page back.
“There are only four more pages missing!” he said. “I could’ve sworn there were a whole bunch more than that!”
“He gave the pages back?” Mike asked, baffled. “All but four of them?”
“It seems like it!” Peter said.
“But why would he give the pages back?” Davy asked baffled. “He must have rewritten them!”
The console of the El Dorado whirred, and Mike blinked in surprise.
“Nope; she says they’re unchanged; all that we need to get are those remaining pages, but Zero’s after them, too.”
“Anybody else think this is way, way, way too good to be true here?” Micky asked, now being the skeptic.
“Yes,” Davy said, without hesitation.
“With Zero involved, anything in our favor is too good to be true,” Mike said, flatly. “Especially something like this-after all that we went through to get the first five pages back, he wouldn’t give us a whole bunch more without something up his sleeve. We gotta be careful here.”
“Is he here!?” Peter suddenly wondered, looking at the corridor that led to a maze of others.
The console whirred again.
“She says he’s not here-he just popped in, dropped off the pages, stuck the note on the door, and left.”
“I don’t like the idea of Zero being able to pop in and out of here as he pleases,” Peter said. “You’d think this place would be safe, at least…”
“Well, the Eldy was standing still,” Mike said. “Even then, it’s probably within Zero’s power to pop in even in flight. Because everything is stacked up against us when Zero is involved.”
“Then your old idea of being on the run probably wouldn’t have worked out,” Micky said.
“Probably not…” Mike sighed. “I don’t know what made me think it would work. I guess I wanted to believe that there could be something that would give us an edge against Zero. But there isn’t.”
“That’ll just make it better when we win,” Davy said, flatly. The others looked to him, and he nodded in affirmation of his words. “Well, I’m not admitting defeat. What about you three?”
“No way!” Peter declared.
“…’Course I’m not giving up,” Mike said. “Not while I’ve still got something to fight for…”
“Awww, heck no!” Micky said, striking a post. “Fedora Dolenz doesn’t give up without a fight-they’ll have to take him kicking and screaming!”
“Can we lose the Fedora Dolenz thing?” Mike asked, rolling his eyes. “That’s not even your fedora!”
“So? I got one back at the Pad,” the Californian said, taking the brown fedora off of his head. “Hey, now there’s an idea…”
“What?” Peter asked.
“Well, this guy who owns the Eldy… Maybe he’s got some pointers on how to secure her against Zero popping in and out whenever he pleases.”
“I don’t think anyone can have pointers for something like that unless they’ve dabbled in the priesthood,” Mike grunted. “But it’s better than just sitting here wondering what to do next, anyway.” He walked over to the console and cleared his throat. “Hey, uh… think you can get us in touch with the fella who owns you?”
A small panel in the console opened, and a piece of odd-looking paper appeared out of the slot, followed by a circular disc. The paper was blank at first, but then words started to appear on it.
“Would you look at this!?” Mike exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
The others crowded around the paper, reading the words upon it in messy, hasty scribbles.
Place disc in console drive. Code word: Geronimo.
“What is it?” Peter asked
“Some kind of computer program?” Micky asked, looking at the odd disc, which sparked with some sort of unearthly holographic effect. “Sure looks a lot cooler than the computer programs we have…”
“Shush,” Mike said again, as he placed the disc in the slot and typed in the code word.
A light projected from the console, and the holographic image of a man in a tweed suit and bow tie appeared.
“Well, well, well,” the image said. “Took you long enough to consult me, didn’t it? Still, perhaps it’s a good sign; I know Professor River Song told me the TARDIS was in good hands. I generally don’t approve of people other than myself using her, but seeing as though I metaphorically (though, probably literally) have my hands tied tight now, it’s up to you lot to stop time and space from going too wobbly. Oi, Texan Long Legs-this message is for you, so I hope you’re listening.”
Mike stared indignantly at the hologram.
“You found a spare TARDIS key under a well in your little Texan village. You may think I’m foolish to have left the key to a time machine there, but, I assure you, it was done after a considerable amount of planning. Not just anyone can use that key, which means that you are on board the TARDIS to complete a very important mission.”
“Well, I didn’t want a mission!” Mike argued. “I’m a musician-we are musicians! This here mission-us going around getting those pages-sounds like something that should’ve been your hang-up!”
“If you are ranting as River said you would, I suggest you stop; I am a pre-recorded message and can’t hear you anyway. So!” The hologram clapped his hands together and put on a mischievous smirk. “Let’s move on, shall we? This Zero fellow you’re dealing with-nasty sort. I know! I’ve dealt with him before! River mentioned something about you wanting to keep him out of the TARDIS? I’d prefer that, as well. That button over there…” The hologram pointed to part of the console. “That is what you’re looking for to activate the protective force fields. Opening the doors is the quick way to deactivate them. DO NOT OPEN THE DOORS WHILE INSIDE THE TIME VORTEX. VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN, AND WE DON’T WANT THAT, DO WE?”
The quartet stared and the hologram’s expression softened.
“Right. Well… That’s all I can do from here, I’m afraid, other than give you this warning: Time can be rewritten, but it must not be-especially Fixed Points. I really can’t over-stress the importance of this. And, Texan Long Legs? You look after the TARDIS; I’ll still be needing her when you’re all finished. You, Drummer Boy-I want that hat back; it took me a very long time to rebuild my hat collection after I left most of it behind beneath that well. You’ve gone and made a name for yourself in the 1920s-I’d recognize the description of that hat anywhere. A past version of myself was very fond of that hat…”
Micky blushed and hit the fedora behind his back, forgetting that the hologram couldn’t really see him.
“And be conservative with the Vortex Manipulator; I know it’s tempting to overuse, but it’s not meant to be drained so quickly. You, Blond One, look after that book well. And you, Short One, have got the most important task of all. Keep everyone together and united; I know you’ve got it in you-it’s in your blood.”
Davy blinked, not sure of what he meant.
“This current leg of your journey is almost over, but there’ll be another,” the hologram said. “All I can do is offer you good luck.”
The hologram vanished.
“Well,” Mike said, as he activated the force fields. “I don’t dig this whole ‘another leg of the journey’ bit, at least he gave us some tips on how to protect the Eldy from Zero.”
“Wonder how he knew who we were?” Peter asked, quietly.
“Eh, the professor probably told him-they seem to know each other,” Micky said. “He was using her first name. And we’ve got to tell her about wanting to know about the force fields so that she can go back in time and tell him so that he can make that message for us about how to set them up.”
“Great; you can handle that the next time we see her,” Mike said, once he had finished setting them up. He took note that one of his bandmates was unusually quiet. “You alright there, Tiny?”
“I guess so,” Davy said. “I guess I’m just confused. What did he mean, ‘it’s in my blood’ about keeping us together? I don’t know what he means; none of my family were famous or anything-my grandfather got some awards for being in British Intelligence, but that was very low-key.”
“Isn’t your uncle the Earl of Whatchamacallit?” Micky asked.
“Hagglethorn,” Davy said, with a slight smile. “Yeah, that castle was part of the family birthright, and we sort of lost track of it. My uncle was the one who took a great deal of time and energy to get it back into the family. But we didn’t band together to get the castle back or anything; it was mostly his doing; he started moving it brick by brick from Scotland to California when I was very little-something about only getting the castle back, but not the land it was on. He only finished right around the time when I came to California myself. It was his pet project, and he took pride in having moved it all by himself.”
“Wait just a second…” Mike said. “Zero involved your uncle and that castle the last time he made life miserable for us, remember?”
Davy’s eyes widened.
“You think-?”
“I don’t know,” Mike said. He turned to the console. “Hey, Eldy, think you can get us to-”
She was already on the move, and they had soon landed. Micky opened the doors, deactivating the force field in the process, and he let out an exclamation.
“California, here we are!”
He leaped out of the doors and kissed the ground.
“And we didn’t even have to click our heels together and say, ‘There’s no place like home,’” Peter grinned.
“Ah, hold it,” Mike said, glancing at the console. “Stop the celebrating. We’re a few years off-four years before the present day, to be exact.”
“Aww, come on!” Micky said, checking the manipulator and realizing that Mike was right. “We’re so close!”
He tapped the manipulator’s screen, as though hoping it would somehow change things. Peter got out and walked over to him to look over his shoulder. Realizing that there was no going around it, Micky sighed and got to his feet.
“Okay, so maybe if we just-”
The brunet was cut off as the manipulator glowed red with warning and began to emit sparks. And even as Mike and Davy, still inside the Eldy, turned to look in shock, Micky and Peter vanished before their eyes.
Author: rose_of_pollux
Rating: eventual PG13
Summary: Sequel to Red Sky. Mr. Zero had promised that it wasn't over. Now, he's ready to inflict more misery upon our heroes as they find themselves on the run again--through the very depths of the space-time continuum.
In this Chapter: The quartet gets messages from two different sources.
Warnings: There will be perilous situations in later chapters. Also, this is a Doctor Nez fic, so wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey elements will be ahead, as well.
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Pairing: None
Main Character(s): Mike, Davy, Micky, Peter, Mr. Zero
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (except for the OCs), and the story is; fictional personas from the TV show.
Notes: N/A
Chapter 19: Notes
The quartet now reappeared a few yards from where Mike had left the El Dorado. Mike, Davy, and Peter were trying to recover from that narrow escape. Micky, on the other hand, looked positively gleeful.
“That was amazing,” he said, grinning broadly. “That was awesome, Man. That was the most fun I’ve had in long time! That was-”
“-Something I never want to do ever again,” Mike finished.
“Glad someone enjoyed it, at any rate,” Davy agreed.
“I gotta go along with them this time, Micky,” Peter added.
Micky shrugged.
“Well, it doesn’t matter; we got the page, we got the weirdo wristwatch, and we are good to go!”
“Now that, I can dig,” Mike said.
He led them to the time machine, but paused as he saw a note attached to one of the doors.
“Don’t tell me we were ticketed for double-parking…” Peter said.
“It’s not a ticket,” Mike said, grimly, as he removed it from the door. “It’s worse-a note from old Zero himself.”
“I wondered what had happened to him,” Davy groaned. “I knew it was too good to be true when he stopped following us…”
“What does it say?” Peter asked.
“Is it too much to hope that it’s a note of surrender?” Micky asked.
“Shush,” Mike said, and he held it out for all of them to read.
My sincerest congratulations on winning this round, as well as all of the previous ones, Nesmith. But your victories will end now. As I mentioned to you in our last encounter-before the four of you so rudely ran off after those mobsters, I might add-I realize that I have been going about this all wrong. I made sure that specific pages from the Book of Ages went missing-pages that mentioned you-in the hopes that you would become stranded and separated in the past. I put you through a series of difficult challenges, due to the content of those pages. Clearly, my plan has failed.
You will understand, of course, that I simply cannot allow this to continue. It doesn’t look right for me to be belittled in such a manner by four no-name musicians with no magical powers.
Your strength is drawn from each other; I see that very clearly now. And while I thought it would be possible to devise trials and tribulations that could succeed in tearing you apart, it seems that plan is impossible.
To that end, I have devised a new plan-one that is sure to succeed. There is more than one way to try to tear the four of you apart; I shall save the juiciest of those ideas as a backup plan if this one should fail. However, I am confident that I will succeed-it is all too easy to tear apart those who have never been together.
The note ended abruptly, at that point, leaving the quartet exchanging nervous glances with each other.
“What did he mean?” Davy asked.
“Well, he did say that chasing us was more trouble than it was worth; it looks like he’s going to try something else,” Micky said. “The question is… ‘What?’”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” Mike said, grimly, as he unlocked the doors of the El Dorado and allowed them entry.
Micky handed Peter the page from the Book of Ages, and the blond let out an exclamation of surprise as he placed the page back.
“There are only four more pages missing!” he said. “I could’ve sworn there were a whole bunch more than that!”
“He gave the pages back?” Mike asked, baffled. “All but four of them?”
“It seems like it!” Peter said.
“But why would he give the pages back?” Davy asked baffled. “He must have rewritten them!”
The console of the El Dorado whirred, and Mike blinked in surprise.
“Nope; she says they’re unchanged; all that we need to get are those remaining pages, but Zero’s after them, too.”
“Anybody else think this is way, way, way too good to be true here?” Micky asked, now being the skeptic.
“Yes,” Davy said, without hesitation.
“With Zero involved, anything in our favor is too good to be true,” Mike said, flatly. “Especially something like this-after all that we went through to get the first five pages back, he wouldn’t give us a whole bunch more without something up his sleeve. We gotta be careful here.”
“Is he here!?” Peter suddenly wondered, looking at the corridor that led to a maze of others.
The console whirred again.
“She says he’s not here-he just popped in, dropped off the pages, stuck the note on the door, and left.”
“I don’t like the idea of Zero being able to pop in and out of here as he pleases,” Peter said. “You’d think this place would be safe, at least…”
“Well, the Eldy was standing still,” Mike said. “Even then, it’s probably within Zero’s power to pop in even in flight. Because everything is stacked up against us when Zero is involved.”
“Then your old idea of being on the run probably wouldn’t have worked out,” Micky said.
“Probably not…” Mike sighed. “I don’t know what made me think it would work. I guess I wanted to believe that there could be something that would give us an edge against Zero. But there isn’t.”
“That’ll just make it better when we win,” Davy said, flatly. The others looked to him, and he nodded in affirmation of his words. “Well, I’m not admitting defeat. What about you three?”
“No way!” Peter declared.
“…’Course I’m not giving up,” Mike said. “Not while I’ve still got something to fight for…”
“Awww, heck no!” Micky said, striking a post. “Fedora Dolenz doesn’t give up without a fight-they’ll have to take him kicking and screaming!”
“Can we lose the Fedora Dolenz thing?” Mike asked, rolling his eyes. “That’s not even your fedora!”
“So? I got one back at the Pad,” the Californian said, taking the brown fedora off of his head. “Hey, now there’s an idea…”
“What?” Peter asked.
“Well, this guy who owns the Eldy… Maybe he’s got some pointers on how to secure her against Zero popping in and out whenever he pleases.”
“I don’t think anyone can have pointers for something like that unless they’ve dabbled in the priesthood,” Mike grunted. “But it’s better than just sitting here wondering what to do next, anyway.” He walked over to the console and cleared his throat. “Hey, uh… think you can get us in touch with the fella who owns you?”
A small panel in the console opened, and a piece of odd-looking paper appeared out of the slot, followed by a circular disc. The paper was blank at first, but then words started to appear on it.
“Would you look at this!?” Mike exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
The others crowded around the paper, reading the words upon it in messy, hasty scribbles.
Place disc in console drive. Code word: Geronimo.
“What is it?” Peter asked
“Some kind of computer program?” Micky asked, looking at the odd disc, which sparked with some sort of unearthly holographic effect. “Sure looks a lot cooler than the computer programs we have…”
“Shush,” Mike said again, as he placed the disc in the slot and typed in the code word.
A light projected from the console, and the holographic image of a man in a tweed suit and bow tie appeared.
“Well, well, well,” the image said. “Took you long enough to consult me, didn’t it? Still, perhaps it’s a good sign; I know Professor River Song told me the TARDIS was in good hands. I generally don’t approve of people other than myself using her, but seeing as though I metaphorically (though, probably literally) have my hands tied tight now, it’s up to you lot to stop time and space from going too wobbly. Oi, Texan Long Legs-this message is for you, so I hope you’re listening.”
Mike stared indignantly at the hologram.
“You found a spare TARDIS key under a well in your little Texan village. You may think I’m foolish to have left the key to a time machine there, but, I assure you, it was done after a considerable amount of planning. Not just anyone can use that key, which means that you are on board the TARDIS to complete a very important mission.”
“Well, I didn’t want a mission!” Mike argued. “I’m a musician-we are musicians! This here mission-us going around getting those pages-sounds like something that should’ve been your hang-up!”
“If you are ranting as River said you would, I suggest you stop; I am a pre-recorded message and can’t hear you anyway. So!” The hologram clapped his hands together and put on a mischievous smirk. “Let’s move on, shall we? This Zero fellow you’re dealing with-nasty sort. I know! I’ve dealt with him before! River mentioned something about you wanting to keep him out of the TARDIS? I’d prefer that, as well. That button over there…” The hologram pointed to part of the console. “That is what you’re looking for to activate the protective force fields. Opening the doors is the quick way to deactivate them. DO NOT OPEN THE DOORS WHILE INSIDE THE TIME VORTEX. VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN, AND WE DON’T WANT THAT, DO WE?”
The quartet stared and the hologram’s expression softened.
“Right. Well… That’s all I can do from here, I’m afraid, other than give you this warning: Time can be rewritten, but it must not be-especially Fixed Points. I really can’t over-stress the importance of this. And, Texan Long Legs? You look after the TARDIS; I’ll still be needing her when you’re all finished. You, Drummer Boy-I want that hat back; it took me a very long time to rebuild my hat collection after I left most of it behind beneath that well. You’ve gone and made a name for yourself in the 1920s-I’d recognize the description of that hat anywhere. A past version of myself was very fond of that hat…”
Micky blushed and hit the fedora behind his back, forgetting that the hologram couldn’t really see him.
“And be conservative with the Vortex Manipulator; I know it’s tempting to overuse, but it’s not meant to be drained so quickly. You, Blond One, look after that book well. And you, Short One, have got the most important task of all. Keep everyone together and united; I know you’ve got it in you-it’s in your blood.”
Davy blinked, not sure of what he meant.
“This current leg of your journey is almost over, but there’ll be another,” the hologram said. “All I can do is offer you good luck.”
The hologram vanished.
“Well,” Mike said, as he activated the force fields. “I don’t dig this whole ‘another leg of the journey’ bit, at least he gave us some tips on how to protect the Eldy from Zero.”
“Wonder how he knew who we were?” Peter asked, quietly.
“Eh, the professor probably told him-they seem to know each other,” Micky said. “He was using her first name. And we’ve got to tell her about wanting to know about the force fields so that she can go back in time and tell him so that he can make that message for us about how to set them up.”
“Great; you can handle that the next time we see her,” Mike said, once he had finished setting them up. He took note that one of his bandmates was unusually quiet. “You alright there, Tiny?”
“I guess so,” Davy said. “I guess I’m just confused. What did he mean, ‘it’s in my blood’ about keeping us together? I don’t know what he means; none of my family were famous or anything-my grandfather got some awards for being in British Intelligence, but that was very low-key.”
“Isn’t your uncle the Earl of Whatchamacallit?” Micky asked.
“Hagglethorn,” Davy said, with a slight smile. “Yeah, that castle was part of the family birthright, and we sort of lost track of it. My uncle was the one who took a great deal of time and energy to get it back into the family. But we didn’t band together to get the castle back or anything; it was mostly his doing; he started moving it brick by brick from Scotland to California when I was very little-something about only getting the castle back, but not the land it was on. He only finished right around the time when I came to California myself. It was his pet project, and he took pride in having moved it all by himself.”
“Wait just a second…” Mike said. “Zero involved your uncle and that castle the last time he made life miserable for us, remember?”
Davy’s eyes widened.
“You think-?”
“I don’t know,” Mike said. He turned to the console. “Hey, Eldy, think you can get us to-”
She was already on the move, and they had soon landed. Micky opened the doors, deactivating the force field in the process, and he let out an exclamation.
“California, here we are!”
He leaped out of the doors and kissed the ground.
“And we didn’t even have to click our heels together and say, ‘There’s no place like home,’” Peter grinned.
“Ah, hold it,” Mike said, glancing at the console. “Stop the celebrating. We’re a few years off-four years before the present day, to be exact.”
“Aww, come on!” Micky said, checking the manipulator and realizing that Mike was right. “We’re so close!”
He tapped the manipulator’s screen, as though hoping it would somehow change things. Peter got out and walked over to him to look over his shoulder. Realizing that there was no going around it, Micky sighed and got to his feet.
“Okay, so maybe if we just-”
The brunet was cut off as the manipulator glowed red with warning and began to emit sparks. And even as Mike and Davy, still inside the Eldy, turned to look in shock, Micky and Peter vanished before their eyes.