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The General yelped as some sort of large projectile whizzed past him. Doing his best to protect his eyes from the debris falling from above, he kept running toward the alleyway where they had left the TARDIS before all of… this… started.
He heard light steps to his left, and suddenly the Gladiator came vaulting over a heap of metal - which might have been part of the public transport network earlier that day - and landed effortlessly on his feet, falling into pace with the General.
“Where have you been? I lost you at the bar last night”, the General huffed, the long sprint beginning to take its toll.
The Gladiator smiled and cocked an eyebrow to himself, seemingly recalling something or other about the night before. “Yeah, I left”.
The General sighed, exasperated. “Why? I thought we agreed to stay together, why do you always-”
Just then, something big and fuzzy seemed to drop out of the sky and landed gracefully to the Gladiator’s left. The Gladiator grinned happily at the young Leonian now running alongside them. “I was hoping you’d come!”
The Leonian grinned back, his fangs glinting as he did so. “If last night was only a sneak preview I cannot wait to see the rest!”
The General glanced over at the newcomer before narrowly avoiding running headfirst into a pole. “Who’s this?”
“Oh yeah! Leon, I already told you about the General. General, meet Leonis - heir to the throne and an amazing kisser!”
A sudden light followed by a hot shockwave pushing at their backs gave them warning before the sound of an enormous explosion boomed across the whole city.
The Gladiator whooped as he was thrown forward into the market square by the pressure, finding purchase amongst the rubble to make a sharp left turn. “There she is!” he shouted, pointing toward a food wagon nestled impossibly in a too narrow alleyway.
The three of them bolted toward it, the Gladiator and the General rummaging around for their keys in their pockets. They really should keep them around their necks, the General thought, as another projectile threatened to cut off the top strands of his mohawk.
The Gladiator reached the door first, fumbling with the key before finally managing to unlock the door and throwing it open. “Get in! Quickly!”
The General and Leonis threw themselves in after him, a piece of a stone wall catapulting above them and smashing against the far wall of the console room. The General kicked the door shut while the Gladiator punched in a random set of coordinates and threw a lever, and the groaning sound of the TARDIS dematerialising made them both breathe a sigh of relief.
Leaning against the TARDIS doors, safe from explosions for now, the General finally had the time to think. “Gladiator…”
“Yeah?” came the answer from behind the control panel.
“... Did we just abduct the crown prince of Delta Leonis?”
The Gladiator peeked around the time rotor, hairbrush in hand. “What? Don’t be absurd. He wanted to come. Ain’t that right, Leon?”
Leonis was looking around the console room in absolute wonder. “It really is bigger on the inside…”
The Gladiator looked at Leonis with soft, adoring eyes before grinning at the General. “See? He's already fitting in perfectly”.
The General sighed and shook his head, an amused smile on his lips. “Let me guess: love at first sight?”
The Gladiator beamed back at him. “You know it”.