New New Wonderland - Prologue
Title: New New Wonderland - Prologue
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, Gen., Crossover: Doctor Who/Alice, 2009
Main Characters: Ten/Rose, Martha, The Queen of Hearts, Hatter/Alice
Rating: Teen/PG13
Word Count: ~3,100
Summary: Parallel worlds come into existence almost every second of every day. Each decision you make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where things end up almost the same or...evolve into something completely different. New Earth AU from S3
Notes: This is the beginnings of a (possibly) lengthy AU crossover piece with Doctor Who and Alice in Wonderland. Specifically the version of the world from the 2009 movie called Alice. Knowledge of the movie will not be required to read/understand my little adventure here...but a quick wikipedia look up may help give you better visuals and hints about those characters in the story.
Should be a bit of fun involving science, 'magic', action, adventure, messing with timelines, and if the characters play their cards right...a reunion.
For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.
A button is pressed and then depressed. A push becomes a pull. The absence of light makes the dark.
Each time one is done, so is the other. A split occurs from the opposite motion and time moves along. Events branch, weave and bend to become the tapestry of time that few can comprehend, and even less can see. The last of the Time Lords, the self branded 'Doctor', was now the only mortal who could and like many mortals, he was not omniscience. Try as he might to push said notions aside, he could not, in fact, see all that could be and would be at all times; just the events and people around him when experiencing linear time, but that is not the same thing.
Stand on one side, and the darker future becomes his path.
Step out into the light, and become a part of events. No take-backs.
Chose a different button, and a new course is set upon.
Burst from those doors, and send the stream back to the river.
Simultaneously, he misses the clues, turns away from the door…and the opposite is created in a tale of balance as old as time is all.
The Doctor appears. He stops the monsters and makes the jug handle.
And yet…he doesn't.
"Can we go there?" Martha inquired with a hushed whisper.
Oh as if it were such an option or so simple. The Doctor had let himself get lost in his memories of home during his description of it to Martha, and continued to allow himself to linger a bit longer in days long passed before answering her. Martha's awe was only to be expected of course. Gallifrey had certainly been one of the more beautiful planets in all of time and space…but no longer.
Where to take her then? Some place in Martha's future obviously. Another planet but not one so dissimilar to her own. With no true exposure to a real alien lifestyle as of yet, he still wasn't quite sure she'd take well to the culture sock of visiting some place like Raxacoricofallapatorius so that limited him slightly. Then, the idea came to him.
New Earth.
Similar but different, breathable atmosphere, another planet but one not too intimidating, lovely grass, and the mixing of many alien species. Should be perfect. Only brief seconds had passed during his musings and he moved to set the coordinates when another thought gave him pause.
He'd last gone to New Earth with her. Stood upon the fresh smelling apple grass with her, saved a species-saved the planet with her, experienced new new Doctor moments with her. New trusts, new jokes, new touch-
No, he wouldn't be writing over those memories anytime soon.
"Nah," the Doctor dismissed Martha's request finally just seconds later with an air of causality as he set new, but equally acceptable, coordinates, "Where's the fun for me? I don't wanna go home." He moved about the console in a flurry of false energy and movement. "Instead," he parried the offer with a few turns and a pump of the stabilizers, "Let's try this." The Tardis shook - stabilizers must be off calibration, have to check those next pit stop - and he finally hit the materialization button.
"The year five billion two hundred and twelve," he announced just minutes later as the ship rattled once again before touching down, "Nice alien bazaar on the moon of Primius Twelve. Humans have spread out amongst the many stars and mingled with all forms of aliens and pre-protoplasmic ooze, oh, ages ago and adapted to interplanetary behavior." The Doctor finished his round of the console and picked up his jacket from one of the coral struts before giving Martha what he knew was a mischievous grin, "Although some of them enjoy a bit more friendly form of that behavior then we're looking for today, but who's to say we can't make a new friend? Maybe pick up a nice souvenir for all your troubles. You humans like to do things like that when you travel don't you?"
He felt a tightening in his chest at the reminder of the last time he'd gone souvenir shopping with someone, but quickly hid it away as he walked out the Tardis doors; Martha giving an excited laugh as she followed behind him.
"It is time Novice Hame," the Face of Boe whispered tiredly to the cat woman before him, "My life is finally ending."
"Surely your will can hold on for just a little longer," Hame pleaded as she placed a hand on the tank that kept him alive, "You said it before, the Doctor always comes when things are thrown off course."
The Face of Boe closed his eyes and gave a resigned sigh, "I think we must accept that this is the true path for New Earth then. As much as I believed I would see the Doctor once more…I now know it was not to be." He opened his eyes and looked at Novice Hame, "I think…I would like to breathe the air once more before I go."
She wanted to protest. Stop him from doing something so foolish as to kill himself early and to be giving up already…but it wouldn't do to lie to herself now; not when she could feel the truth behind his words. His life force, what she once viewed as a bright golden energy radiating inside of him, now only flickered like a dim broken light. It was his time to go and he'd given his very life to help save this corrupted planet…the least she could do was grant his last request.
He could see it in her eyes when she'd accepted his chosen fate and the Face of Boe sent a mental wave of gratitude, appreciation and love her way as Novice Hame released the controls on his bio tank. The Face of Boe took in his first and last few breaths of precious air while relishing in the warmth of physical contact with another living being as Novice Hame placed a gentle hand upon his cheek. Fleeting seconds of this bliss passed before finally, after millions upon millions of years, he was allowed to rest.
In a penthouse room high up in the city, far away from the final moments of the Face of Boe, a blonde technician seated behind one of many similar stations organized chaotically around him gave an excited yell of success. "Madam Heart!" he cried out, attracting the attention of an attractive looking woman with long blood red hair in well-kept business attire. Noticing the man's eager expression, she calmly strode her way across the room on clacking heels to stand before him.
"You'd better have news for me this time Winston and not another false alarm," she icily stated, "I don't give second chances or extend time for those who have already failed me."
"No ma'am - I mean Yes! Yes, I've done it," Winston proclaimed as he pointed out readings that were rushing by on the monitor before him. "Whatever anomaly was keeping the motorway locked has been shut down. After taking over the reroute system, I was finally able to get complete access to the main controls and we can open the ceiling whenever you like!"
Something akin to pleasure grew in calculating smirk that lit the woman's face as she turned away from the monitor to stroke a hand down the side of Winston's face, causing the man to freeze in uncertainty and no small amount of fear. "My dear Winston," she purred, "That is marvelous news. Well done." Madam Heart dropped her hand and strolled over towards the all encompassing window on the nearby wall, "Send the order to have some of my Suits use those delightful little monsters on the base levels to collect a new harvest. We'll need a larger stock of Wonders to offer once we've disabled their transports and the passways are clear of this disgusting smog. Then, once their jubilation of being released from the motorway wears off, and they realize they are just as trapped as they ever were. Well...who wouldn't need a bit of Happiness or Joy to take their minds off their troubles."
No sound beyond one person's furious typing was heard in the room as the other technicians dared not move and incure their leader's wrath and were left to watch, heads shifting back and forth between either character as the scene played out before them. "Umm, Madam Heart," Winston spoke up just minutes later, causing the chilly yet beautiful woman to face him with a curious expression. He visibly swallowed as his gaze flew back to the terminal before him before continuing, "The labs say that they won't be able to meet with such high production demands. The synthetic that they use to create the patches has almost run out as it is and with staffing already at a minimum in that division..."
She raised an elegant eyebrow at him, "The speed with which those imbeciles mumble out their excuses continues to astound me." Madam Heart looked back out the empty window then, gaze turning upon the closed motorway that sat below them; various exhausts and other gases leaking slowly out of the small side vents. No gust or breeze from the draw of a breath stirred the room for the better part of a minute before the woman turned back to look at Winston once more.
"Tell them that we shall switch to a better form of instant gratification then. The pure liquid version that is placed in the patches would be absorbed into the bloodstream just as efficiently, and I will behead any of them should they attempt to claim the city is lacking a sufficient supply of bottles as a replacement carrier of the essence."
Winston nodded in quick jerks of acknowledgement before sitting down to relay Madam Heart's commands to the labs.
Feeling powerful and confident in her success, Mary Elizabeth Constance Devillius Heart turned back once more to her view of just a fraction of the soon to be former city of New New York. Her plans were beginning to take shape and soon…soon she would take the crumbling remains of the Heart corporation and remold it into her own personal kingdom.
In a universe far in both time and space from New Earth and the moon of Primius Twelve (specifically on the third planet from the star Sol that the natives called Earth), Rose Tyler shut down her computer as she prepared to leave Torchwood for the day. It was well past her normal punch out time but it had been a necessary evil today. She didn't often deal with paperwork, but one of the few friendly aliens looking to migrate to Earth showed up and if you were the only person able to understand a word being said…well, sometimes it felt like she just got roped into these situations by default.
It was a parting gift from her days of having proper alien encounters as much as it was a curse.
Hearing the seductive call of a relaxing bath and then retreating to her comfy bed, Rose turned off the light and made sure she had her ID lanyard and house keys secure in her jacket before she closed the door to her office and made her way down and out of Torchwood Tower. Her mother hadn't been pleased when Rose had decided to move out of Pete's house before her little brother would be born, but she'd needed to get away from all the overly concerned faces and gestures and just find her center again. To accept who she was and who she could be now. While her flat wasn't the Powell Estates back in her London - it was a bit too posh for her to even consider that as an option - it was slowly starting to feel less like a place she lived in, and more like a home.
A bitter winter wind assaulted her face when she exited out onto the street causing Rose to zip up her jacket a little higher and set off along the well traversed path back to the flat with little thought.
Not many people were out this late on a Tuesday evening and sometimes, like today, when the longing got bad, Rose let herself pretend that she was just out on a run to the market for supplies on the Tardis. They'd let the milk spoil again or maybe the biscuits had run out and he'd shoot those pitting eyes at her to just pop out and grab some more as she was so much better at the little domestics than he was. A wide grin would light up her face as she'd tease him about how he surely must have almost starved himself before she'd signed up and then, after several teasing remarks that danced the line between friendship and more, her giving in and making the required trip.
Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the now drying night air and allowed the fantasy to play out with the ghost of a smile for exactly thirty more steps when she then had to check the streets for the low possibility of traffic before she crossed. Seeing none, she easily strolled across the the intersection and was about to close her eyes once more when she noticed someone else was actually out…and they seemed to be making their way towards her with some speed, purposefully flagging her down when she finally caught their eye.
Not instantly recognizing the man as he grew closer, Rose slowed her pace to a leisurely stroll and put her self on minor alert. The man (elderly or prematurely gray based on the white hair he had) gave her a polite smile as he came to a stop before her. "Ms. Tyler I presume?" the posh London accent asked.
"Depends on who's lookin'," Rose responded with a closed face.
The man lit up in realization at her words and quickly passed her a billfold from his inner jacket pocket for her inspection. "Agent White from Torchwood Miss. I was just on my way in for the late night shift when they rang my mobile and asked me to intercept you. Said something about finding what looks like a human suit down by the Thames and wanted you on the scene." With a sense of security that can only come from previous similar encounters, Rose sighed after giving the man's credentials back. It seemed she'd be pulling another all nighter. Still, it was better than paperwork.
Agent White gave her a sympathetic smile, no doubt sensing her distance of the situation, "I can say I missed you if you like. It didn't seem terribly urgent; might wait till morning."
Rose gave him a weak smile in return and shook her head, dashing away all hopes of her relaxing hot bath with the movement. "Best if I didn't," she decided, "Wouldn't do to have you lose your job just 'cause my boss thinks I can run on coffee vapors yeah?"
"As you say Ma'am," he nodded, but Rose could see the weight she'd taken off him with her decision, "We've moved the item in question inside the nearby construction site to keep any late might civilians off the scene. If you'll just follow me?"
Mr. White gestured off to her right as he turned to take the lead, heading the opposite way from her flat and down toward the river. Rose easily fell into step slightly behind the white haired man, idly noting his odd hair style of two low hanging ponytails, but quickly dismissing it. She hadn't bothered with current fashion in this London no matter how often her mother pleaded for her to change styles from her comfortable jeans, top and jacket ensemble. Though she supposed it was her own fault getting the now very fashion forward woman's hopes up when she'd at least accepted the change in make-up styling. Less was more on this much more technologically advanced Earth in those regards and as much as her mother didn't like it, the classical casual look never truly went out of style until well into the 32nd century, so Rose had argued she'd had sometime before worrying about it.
The walk to the river side construction site didn't take more than ten minutes and Rose let the idle chit chat that Agent White felt the need to keep up wash over her as she fell into a comfortable dialog along side him. A pair of men in black fatigues were waiting for them at the building entrance and gave a small salute when Rose presented her own ID badge before walking in. They were shown to the room holding the supposed 'human suit' which had been placed in front of a somewhat out of place looking large ornate mirror that took up the better part of one wall.
Curious about the out of place piece of decoration but knowing her priority, Rose checked for any recognizable features as to which alien life form had been using this poor soul's body as a fancy dress costume. A not so surprising common occurrence when dealing with extremely non-humanoids on Earth. No zipper on the forehead ruled out her primary suspect and having the feet still intact threw her for another loop. Squeezing the empty fingers felt off as well. Almost as if the body wasn't really made from skin but…was that rubber?
Just as Rose was about to question Agent White on his findings, he mentioned something odd reflecting in the mirror across the body from her. She stood up to better see what the man was pointing at when she saw the surface ripple as if it was liquefied. Confused and not half curious about the item already, Rose moved to stand inches away from it to get a better look; staring intently at her own reflection as she did so. Seconds away from declaring it a trick of the light, something or someone fell onto her, knocking her off balance and sending her falling towards the mirror. She only had time to gasp in surprise at seeing her own hands disappear into the liquid mirror before the rest of her quickly followed.
Her lungs burned and every color flashed rapidly before her eyes as she fell for forever in a space with no pull or push, but having all the speed of bullet train. There was a tingling and then a burning in her chest then that grew and grew but she couldn't place if it was inside or outside of her before the pain flared across her mind. Suddenly there was air once more and Rose took one gulping breath before noticing gravity had finally decided to reinstate itself as well just as her head collided with a 'softish' bit of ground, and she blacked out.
Chapter 1