The Universe's Mixer

Coming back to the warehouse after blowing up her castle wasn’t as upsetting as some might think. Yeah, Harl had liked having all the fancy things and people to order around, but it got a little boring after a while. They expected a queen to do things, and she really preferred to do her own thing her own way. Freedom was more priceless than any gem.

( Of course, that didn’t mean she hadn’t swiped some crown jewels as she went. )

The day was crystal clear. Warm, even, considering what time of year it was. Kids were happily running around the park wearing their shorts and maybe a light sweater. Flowers had bloomed unseasonably. Bees and butterflies busied themselves while birds sang.

To top it all off, in a nice grassy area some picnic tables popped up. They were all covered in food and drink. A big banner unfurled across a nice space that could be seen from the road. It touted "Annual City Picnic" in bold black lettering.

Harley draped herself over the throne casually. As though it was every day she sat on an actual throne. In a throne room. ( In her very own castle! )

It was always the same.

Harl, do this. Harl, do that. Clean all the dead zombie bodies out of the courtyard, Harl. Feed the hyenas, Harl. Where’s my acid-spewing squirty flower, Harl. Get me the TV Guide, Harl. Make me a sandwich, Harl. Have you seen my spinny bow-tie, Harl. I need the triple set of carburetors out of an L69 engine of a 1966 Oldsmobile 442, Harl.

( It was wonderful. )

continued from here

Ace grinned broadly as she snatched the key from The Doctor’s hand. She was well eager to see how the Doctor had changed the TARDIS interior. She would bet it was as different as he was. Ace opened the door and was almost bouncing as she walked in.

“Bloody hell, Professor,” she said as she looked around the control room. “This is totally wicked! Ah man. You can see all the working bits and everything.” She dropped her backpack on the floor and practically ran around the room, making sure she saw everything. “Oi, better hope none of your mates drop a contact on the floor though, right?”

Gone were the white walls with the ovals everywhere and the boring solid floor. The old push button controls that looked like a twelve year-old designed were replaced by these really cool levers and things. Ace couldn’t wait to start playing around with…. Well, with everything! Why did he wait so long to change things up and make everything so cool? Whoever it was that was traveling with him now better really appreciated all the fun they were going to have with the Professor.

“Right then, I guess we did one of those time whatsits where you’re from like the future or something,” she said, putting together the pieces of what he had told her. “I mean, if you know me, you can’t be one of your past selves.” She poked a few random buttons on the control panel. “You can’t get the TARDIS to move? You think the Master is in on some plot?” It would just like that wanker to trap them somewhere, just like on the Cheetah Planet.

“Oi, Professor? Shouldn’t you have someone here with you? You never travel alone.”

For a day in the middle of February, the weather wasn’t half bad. Compared to how nasty Perivale got around this time every year, the City was a nice place. Ace decided to take advantage of the non-snow day and work outside. It was always safer to mix explosives in a large, open area than in a cramped hotel room. As long as the police weren’t around to stop you. Besides, what else were you suppose to do on Valentine’s Day?

Ace went exploring The City, trying to find the best place to set up a work area. Nothing was really suitable, if she was honest. It was starting to look like she was going to have to stick with the lab in the TARDIS. Maybe she could get something small set up in the hotel room she was renting. That could work if she remembered to keep the maids out. Cleaning crews always seemed to throw out the stuff she needed.

( She found a bench )

It was a scenic spot in the park. Large oaks grew over a deep still pond. It was half frozen, but this did not detract from its beauty. The TARDIS stood a silent sentinel behind a wooden bench that faced the water. On the bench, The Doctor contemplated the last year.

Rose was gone. She needed him, but he could not help her. She was trapped, almost as certainly as he began to believe he was. If he was not in this bell jar of a pocket dimension He might be able to save her. He was an explorer, a Timelord, and he was stuck on this tiny little speck of reality. There must be a way off. If it was spring, he could have fed some ducks. No such luck. So he sat and thought. It had been a long time since he felt so alone. He could learn to hate the City for that. He shivered and pulled his tweed long coat around himself more closely.

All verbal communication has to be in the form of questions. If a statement or exclamation is made, everybody in the room forgets everything after the point they were placed in the room. There is a sign in the room that says "Do you know the question?" and the door will open if the right question is asked.

As another round of shots blazed through the alley Gwen Cooper was not taking this very well. She had faced weevils, she had faced various Rift gift creatures and she had heard stories of the Daleks and the Cybermen but this was Cardiff brand weird times about ten. She had texted Jack and opened she would find him very soon (and in one piece).

But for now she was doing what any cop in her shoes would do. She was getting people to safe havens, going on food runs for various shelters and ducking zombies. "At least zombies are kinda like weevils" she observed as she ducked into a coffee shop to get some air. That was when she discovered the trap door that looks like the shop kitchen. Of course being the curious sort she had to take a look around and that was when she found what looked to be a dead ringer for the hub back in Cardiff. That sealed her decision so she called Jack and aimed for his wrist device.

"Jack its Gwen. Come to this address and trust me on this one. I think this place wants you and me back in business, will explain more then."

Ace had lost track of the both the Doctor and the TARDIS. But, she wasn’t worried; they both would show up when she needed them. They always did. Meantime, she needed something to do. So after playing with Godzilla (How bloody cool was that!), she just wandered around the City. This whole place was starting to remind her of one of the Doctor’s little tests, the one where he wants her to figure out what they have to do to save the universe. If it was one of his tests, she wanted to figure out why he had brought them here before he should up with his vague clues. So if he wanted to leave her here alone until she figured this out, that was fine with her.

( She'd show him. )

It had only recently become aware of the concept of monster movies. In this new body, this new form, it had taken to doing some more human things. One of them had to been to visit something called a video store, rent some videos and find some place to watch them. Since it was The City itself, it just made a house with everything it needed.

One of those videos happened to be Godzilla, featuring a giant angry lizard. It sat intrigued through the whole thing and bolted to it's feet at the end, fresh with a new idea.

There would be a zoo in The City. It would collect animals to put them on display. The City didn't currently have a zoo of it's own, which was sort of sad for the children. But they'd grown up here so they didn't really have a concept of what a zoo was. They would love this.

It would get Godzilla. The monster couldn't be that big, could it? After all, it had ransacked and Japan was a small place to begin with. Just an island. Sort of like The City, only ... different. Plus it had stayed mostly in Tokyo. One city.

After Godzilla, it would get some dinosaurs maybe. A unicorn. A phoenix. Dodo birds. Things that people would know but had never seen in their lives. It would be fantastic. Everybody would be filled with wonder. They would be pleased by what The City had given them.

Retrieving Godzilla as it had everybody else, The City suddenly realized that it had not only misjudged the creature's size, but also it's intelligence and determination. The cage that had been constructed turned out to be rather flimsy.

Just as one of the lesser writers for The City Voice was receiving information about the zoo for an article, Godzilla broke loose.

( OOC )

“This is not the TARDIS.” Dorothy McShane, better known as ‘Ace’ stood in the middle of the street with her hands on her hips as she looked around. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She had a few theories, but had no real idea. She decided that her arrival was do to either a) this was a room in the TARDIS that was just as big as a city; b) there was another glitch in the TARDIS systems and the front door had moved and she had stepped outside. Or c) the last door she had gone through took her through some rift in the space-time continuum. Whatever the reason, she was here now.

Ace pulled the backpack she was carrying higher up on her shoulder and got out of the street. She needed to think and figure this all out.

Last thing she remembered, she had been in her bedroom in the TARDIS mixing up a new batch of nitro-9. The Doctor had come by and told her he had a surprise for her. Since he had told her not to make explosives in her bedroom and he knew she would never do anything he asked her not to, he set up a chemistry lab for her. He said he would feel better if Ace did not make her explosives in the same room she slept in.

She had grabbed her jacket and her backpack and followed the Doctor’s directions. Down the hall off the control room, take the fourth right, go down twelve doors and take another right. Go seven door and then open the fourteenth one on the left. Ace had done that and when she had stepped through the door, she was here.

She knew the Doctor would find her eventually. He never left her alone for long, he was never sure what she would do without supervision. But in the meantime, she had a whole new City to explore and have fun with. She grinned and started walking down the street.

“Wicked.”