The One Who Pulls The Strings (Doctor Who Regenerated)

The Search Begins

(Haven's POV)

"No! No! Don't touch that!"

I quickly yanked my hand off the glowing knob I'd been admiring. "Oh, s-sorry. Did I mess something up?"

The Doctor ran around, turned the knob, checked the screen, then went back to his side of the round console. He sighed. "No, it's fine. Everything's fine. Just... leave the flying to me."

I took a step back not wanting to accidentally mess something up. It was all so overwhelming—the bigger-on-the-inside box, the fact that it could time travel, the fact I was going on an adventure, and the fact that my friend Harmony had been kidnapped! What was going on?? I had to close my eyes a moment, taking deep breaths and telling myself to calm down. But the Tardis jolted suddenly, sending me back to the crazy reality I was now in. I fell forward onto the console, pressing about a half-dozen buttons and flipping a couple switches.

The Doctor let out a squeak (a squeak?).

I panicked. "Oh, no! Oh, NO! What did I do? What did I do?"

"It's fine, it's fine!" The Doctor rushed over and smacked a thousand different things. Then he sighed and pulled back. "Please, just... sit down."

He gently nudged me over to the small couch that was off to one side. I sat, and he ran his hand over his facial hair in frustration. "It really has been a long time since I've had a companion," he muttered, probably mostly to himself. Then he said louder, "Not that you're my new companion, ok? Don't be getting any ideas. I don't need a companion right now, not on this adventure. I'm helping you get your friend back, and then I'm taking you both home, and that's final!"

I was confused. It kinda sounded like he was mostly saying it for himself(?). "I... never said I wanted to be your companion." Why did saying that statement leave me feeling a tad bit... disappointed? Maybe it was just because this guy was pretty hot. Stop it, Haven. Now is not the time!

I shook my head, trying to clear it of those thoughts. "Look, where are we going? Where has the... Master taken my friend? How do you know he isn't hurting her?" Panic was rising in my voice again.

The Doctor turned back to his buttons and twisty-knobs, talking fast as he continued his work. "No, he's not hurting her." Then adding quietly, "I don't think."

I opened my mouth, but was instantly cut off.

"I think I know where he is, but it's difficult to get there. He never liked me bothering him too much, so of course he's going to have barriers set up to keep my Tardis out. But I think I can bypass them. It is very tricky. We might die. But I don't think so, I am trying to not let that happen. It would be a bonus."

"I—what??"

I was unable to react properly before the Doctor grabbed a giant lever and pulled it back. The Tardis jerked and tumbled—and so did I. I yelped as I fell to the floor and rammed into the console. Owwww-crimanelly!!

My back was now currently not okay with this little adventure.

I managed to get a grip on the edge of the console and steady myself on my feet (as steady as I could be, anyways, with this spaceship dancing about). The Doctor was staring up with a crazy grin on his face and a glint in his eyes like a madman. I was already 95% sure he really was mad, but now it was up to at least 97%.

My stomach turned as we twisted and flew. Then—JOLT.

"Eeep!!"

I fell to the floor again. We'd come to a sudden stop. A strong hand gripped my arm and helped me up.

"Alright, darling?" the Doctor asked.

"Y-yeah."

I looked at him, but he wasn't smiling anymore. "That was too easy," he said in a low voice.

I blinked. Did he really just say—? "Easy?? How was that—?"

But he wasn't by my side anymore. He was running for the doors. I hurried after him. He flung the doors open, revealing a disastrous sight. Before us was a large room—a control room, I assumed, going by the severely damaged control panels on one side—and the whole place was a torn up mess. A couple lights flickered over the desolate scene. Burn marks covered most of the room. Pieces of metal and plastic lay strewn all about. And the most disturbing bit of it was probably the fact that there were beheaded puppets lying all around.

There was so much trying to sink into my brain: this room, the disaster of a state it'd been left in, the murdered puppets, and the fact we had actually moved! Like, in a spaceship of some kind! And to top it all off, my friend was supposedly here?? In this horror movie scene??

It was hard finding my voice. The Doctor scurried about the room as I opened my mouth to attempt words. "A.. D-Doctor... where... is my friend?"

Somehow my feet decided I wanted to follow him as he ignored my question and ran towards a hallway. My walk turned into a run as we hurried down dark corridors. The Doctor would stop randomly to check inside a room real fast before flying down a hallway again.

Finally we found ourselves in a beautiful, white bedroom adorned with the loveliest furniture. But the Doctor had no interest in the décor. He was busy hammering his head with his hands while walking in circles, yelling at himself, "Think, think, think! Where would he have gone? How could this have even happened? Did the Director take them?? THINK!!"

Losing my patience made me snap into this crazy reality. "Doctor! What is going on?"

The Doctor stopped. His eyes seemed to be fixated on something, horror flashing across his face, but there was nothing there. "Oh, no.."

He suddenly gripped my hand and a chill ran through my body. His blue eyes were wide with alarm as he turned to me.

Then, in almost a whisper, "Run."

My breath caught.

"RUNNN!!"

I barely held in a scream as the walls began to break. "What's goING OOOONNN??"

"THE MASTER SET IT TO SELF DESTRUCT—IT'S GOING TO BLOW!!"

This time the scream escaped. "OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH—"

We fled down the crumbling corridors, hand in hand. I could hear an explosion in the distance—and it was catching up.

We slid around the corner, ramming into the wall, then charging toward the Tardis. The Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors opened instantly, as if the blue box could sense our urgency. We leapt through the doors. They slammed shut behind us and the blast wave hit. I screamed as I fell right into the Doctor. He held tight to me, but we both fell to the floor.

Before my mind could even process the fact that I'd just fallen into this highly attractive man's arms, the Doctor scrambled to his feet and wobbled to the console. The next thing I knew, the Tardis was spinning again, but violently. I held tight to a railing. My mind was so far into sensory overload, I shut my eyes and screamed.

Then everything stopped.

I was panting. I let my eyes open and spotted the Doctor leaning against the now quiet console, also panting. My grip on the railing loosened as I got shakily to my feet. "D-D-Doctor?"

He WHOOPED.

I jumped, startled.

"Oh, that was bloody BRILLIANT! Oh, my! Oh, goodness, it has been a while!" He laughed.

Yep, 100%. Absolutely. No doubt about it. This man was MAD.

He hobbled over to me, still grinning from ear to ear. Patting a hand on my shoulder, he said, "Welcome aboard the Tardis, love!"

Written by A.F.