Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sabah was bored. She was standing outside one of the Boardwalk’s several movie theatres, under a banner advertising the latest reboot of the Maggie Holt series of films. In front of her, a puppet crafted to resemble a cartoonishly proportioned version of the films’ protagonist danced on the sidewalk, flanked by two other puppets made to resemble goblins. Not, Sabah thought, her finest work. She didn’t particularly enjoy doing promotions, but they paid the bills. If this was the price she had to pay for switching from an engineering major to fashion design, she’d pay it gladly. At least she could stay still and in the shade while her puppets did the dancing for her. The mid-May weather was starting to get too warm to comfortably wear the frock, wig and full face mask that comprised her costume.

So desperate was she for any kind of stimulation, that it was almost a relief when a strange man started studying her creations. The stranger stood out among the other tourists and shoppers of the boardwalk. He was well dressed, wearing a brown overcoat over a suit and tie, stylish, but not going for any particular style she could put her finger on. His shoes were trainers, favoring comfort over style. Altogether, the kind of outfit that Sabah would recommend to a man who wanted to look good without sacrificing mobility or functionality.

It wasn’t his clothing that drew people’s attention, however. The stranger had a presence to him, a kind of charisma that would allow him to walk into a room and immediately become the center of attention. His movements seemed to contain a frenetic energy, as if he was never quite comfortable sitting still, and his eyes seemed to take in everything around him, holding both curiosity and wariness. Sabah sent one of the goblins over to him, making it dance around him, take a bow, and point dramatically at the banner advertising the film.

Barely glancing at the banner, the man turned instead to the goblin. He said something Sabah didn’t hear, and removed a cylindrical device from his coat pocket. He waved it at the goblin, looked at the device, then waved it again. Reaching again into his coat, he pulled out, of all things, a pair of 3D glasses. Not the kind you might get from a theater, but the cheap cardboard ones, with one red lens and one blue lens. He put them on, and stared at the goblin intently.

Ok, Sabah thought, he’s a crazy person. Still better than boredom.

The man proceeded to give the same treatment to her other puppets, before heading in Sabah’s direction. He squinted at her, then pointed the cylinder in her direction. Up close, it was almost certainly a tinker device, or made up to look like one. It had a glowing blue light on the tip, and emitted a strange humming sound. Concerning.

“Um…” Sabah spoke, “Can I help you?”

The man started. “Oh! This one has a person in it.” His accent was English, which surprised her somewhat.

“Um… yes.” She replied. “hi.”

“But those others.” The man indicated her puppets. “They don’t. Have people in them, I mean.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“No. They’re animated using my power. I’m Parian.” She reached into her frock and pulled out one of the business cards she’d had made last summer. “I also do birthday parties.” She added somewhat dryly.

“Your power? Remarkable!”

“It’s… not all that remarkable as powers go,” she replied. Oh please god, don’t let him be a cape fanboy!

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Parian,” he went on, “I’m the Doctor.”

“The… Doctor? Is that a cape name? Are you a cape?”

The man… the Doctor grinned. “I have no idea! I don’t even know what that means.”

Sabah gave him an incredulous look which, in retrospect, would have been more effective if her face hadn’t been covered by a mask. As it was, the Doctor kept talking, oblivious.

“There are a whole lot of things I don’t know right now. It’s refreshing. Not used to it, so I’m trying to enjoy it while I can. Never been here before, you see. There was a bit of an accident. Fell out of the time vortex. Not sure how to get back, actually, which is a bit worrying, but I’m, trying to look on the bright side, right now. And the bright side is that I currently have a whole new universe full of things to not know.”

Sabah blinked. Was this guy serious? He seemed to be claiming to be from another universe, or maybe another time. Maybe both. Either he was delusional, in which case she was currently trapped in a conversation with a madman, or he wasn’t, in which case she should… call the PRT? Wasn’t there a treaty with Aleph restricting interdimensional travel or something?

“What I want to know, Parian,” the Doctor continued, pulling off his 3D glasses, “Is do you know why you and your creations over there are covered in void stuff?”

“Void stuff?” She replied, “I don’t… what are you talking about.”

“Particles from the Void.” He said, “The space between universes. Outside of time and space. I’m covered in them right now, but that’s because I just fell through the Void. Have you traveled outside of your universe recently?”

“Um… no. That’s not a thing that people do. That I know about at least. Radio waves from Earth Aleph, sure, but not people. Nobody’s made a hole big enough yet, and… and I’m pretty sure there are laws against trying.”

The Doctor nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment, then he grinned. “Interesting. Thank you Parian. Another piece of the puzzle. No idea what it means yet, but I’ll get there! Thanks for the chat. You mind if I give you a call if I have any more questions?” he held up her business card.

“Erm…” Maybe it was a mistake giving that to him.

“Excellent! Goodbye Parian!” he took off, walking down the Boardwalk with renewed purpose as if their conversation had given him his next destination. Sabah sighed.

Several minutes after the Doctor left, she started to wonder if he’d been flirting with her. She was bad at telling, especially with men, and had been burned in the past. She knew she’d be replaying the conversation in her head for the rest of the day wondering if anything she’d said or done could be misinterpreted. Wonderful! At the very least, she reminded herself, this was just some stranger on the Boardwalk, not a classmate she’d have avoid every day. If he called, she could block his number and odds were, she’d never see him again.

She saw him again that evening. She was on her way home, tired, but with a check for room and board for that month, when the Doctor’s distinctive English accent drifted out of an alleyway, mingled with several other raised voices. Sabah winced. The shortest route from the Boardwalk to her home near the University cut through the Docks, what could be charitably described as the “bad” part of town. Relatively safe for her, not many people would bother a costumed parahuman surrounded by her puppets, but if the Doctor had been wandering around here looking like a rich tourist and asking strange questions, well…

Sabah rounded the corner, and her heart leapt into her throat. The Doctor was surrounded by three masked figures. Their leader was a large man, covered in tattoos, the most prominent being a stylized E88 on one arm. Blond hair spilled out from behind a metal mask in the shape of a wolf.

Hookwolf.

She recognized the other two as well, from descriptions and by their association with Hookwolf. Cricket and Stormtiger, she was pretty sure. All capes, all members of Empire 88, the local white supremacist supervillain group. Dangerous at the best of times, especially vicious and bloodthirsty now, given that their identities had been leaked to the public some weeks ago, and the Doctor was talking to them as if he was completely oblivious to the danger he was in.

“… more questions than answers.” The Doctor was saying, “You three have completely different powers, but all from the same source. And all covered in void particles. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Not sure if you were listening,” Hookwolf snarled, “But you picked a pretty shitty time and place to go around asking questions.”

“Now granted, I am a bit disappointed that this universe still has Nazis in it. Not a point in its favor. I met Hitler, you know? Not somebody worth putting on a pedestal. Inferiority complex like you wouldn’t believe!”

Hookwolf slammed his fist into the brick wall of the alley, hard enough that it would have broken bone if his bones hadn’t been coated in steel. He took a step closer, drawing himself up to his full height. Sabah winced. From what she’d heard, Hookwolf was the type to take not being intimidated by him as a personal insult.

“Doctor!” she called out before she could stop herself, “These guys are serious!”

Hookwolf turned to look at Sabah, his gaze seeming to bore into her. “Walk away, doll girl!” he said, “This doesn’t concern you.”

Sabah gulped. She had more reason than most to want to avoid getting Empire 88’s attention. She had chosen a very Caucasian cape persona, complete with blonde wig and Victorian dress, despite her own Middle-Eastern heritage. Her plan was to unmask herself one day to promote a dialogue about ethnicity and the assumptions people made about capes… but that was probably some kind of cardinal sin in these guys’ books.

Hookwolf turned back to the Doctor and started to change, steel blades bursting from beneath his skin as he grew larger and decidedly less human. To her horror, the Doctor leaned towards the villain, as if to get a better look, donning those stupid 3D glasses in the process.

She should walk away. She really should. She was no hero. She should call the police. Let the real superheroes know and leave the fighting to the professionals. But if she did…

He’s going to get himself killed!

Hookwolf snarled, and the Doctor finally seemed to realize he was in mortal danger. “Right then,” he said, “This is the part where I run!”

He turned to flee as Hookwolf lunged, and one of Sabah’s goblin puppets crashed into the villain, sending him flying. Sabah’s eyes went wide as she realized what she’d done. It was almost reflexive. She’d had seconds to think, and in those seconds, she’d attacked Hookwolf!

Cricket and Stormtiger started moving, realizing they were in an actual fight now, but Sabah was already commanding her other puppets. The Maggie Holt doll leapt in front of Cricket, absorbing her sonic blast, and the other goblin hurled a dumpster at Stormtiger, forcing him to use the blast of air he had been summoning to knock it off-course. She’d caught them by surprise, but the surprise was short lived. She already felt the power flowing out of the first goblin as Hookwolf tore it to shreds, and Stormtiger and Cricket were beginning to slash away at theirs.

Numbly, Sabah wondered how her power was able to fight so efficiently, when her physical body was still stunned with the shock of what she was doing. She’d never been in a fight before. Was this normal for parahumans? It was the Doctor who shook her out of her trance, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around.

“Run!” he shouted, and they ran.

They ran down alleys and through side streets, the Doctor overturning trash cans behind him to block pursuit. Sabah lost control of her puppets as soon as they were out of her sight, but they had been almost entirely destroyed by that point anyway. She felt a pang of regret at their loss. Those things took time to make, and she had been hired by the theatre for multiple days. She pushed those thoughts aside. If she was alive to get fired tomorrow, she’d call that a win.

“This won’t work!” she shouted to the Doctor.

“What won’t” He called back. He seemed remarkably at ease having a conversation while running for his life.

“We can’t outrun them,” Sabah said between breaths, “Hookwolf’s fast… and Stormtiger has a mover power! They’ll catch us!”

“Ok, what about your power? I don’t suppose you could animate some fire hydrants to protect us or something?”

She shook her head. “I can only move a pound or so, unless I let the power ‘soak in,’ which takes time. It needs to be cloth too… or something porous. Not… something I can just do.”

She heard running footsteps above her and to the left. Risking a look, she saw a figure running along rooftops, leaping between buildings. Stormtiger. He was going to cut them off!

“How about you?” she shouted, “can that glowy cylinder of yours do anything to them?”

“It’s not a weapon!”

She blinked “Well, what is it?”

“It’s a screwdriver.”

“A what?”

“A screwdriver!” the Doctor shouted, “a sonic screwdriver!”

Sabah barely had time to process that when she was hit by one of Cricket’s sonic attacks. The world swam as nausea overtook her. Up and down ceased to have any meaning, and it was only the Doctor grabbing her hand that kept her from falling. He practically dragged her along, and it was all she could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Right. Left. Right. Left. She wanted to collapse, but if they caught her…

She wasn’t sure how long they ran like that before the Doctor let go of her hand. Sabah collapsed to the ground, struggling to bring the world around her into focus. Had they escaped?

No. The Empire capes were still there, walking towards the Doctor who was standing between them and her. He had his device… his sonic screwdriver out and was pointing it at them, which seemed to be enough to keep them at bay… at least for now.

And the Doctor was talking. “… was saying, it can be a lot of fun, not knowing things, but it’s also dangerous. Can get you into all manner of trouble. Fortunately, I’m figuring this world out. Slowly but surely, putting the pieces of a puzzle together. For example, I figured out that when you see a strange glowing device, you back off until you can figure out what it does. Am I right?”

“He’s bluffing,” Stormtiger said, “I say we rush him.”

“No!” Cricket exclaimed, somehow managing to convey urgency with her artificial voice. “It’s doing something with sound waves. Definitely a tinker device.”

“Can you neutralize it?” Hookwolf asked.

“Yes… probably.” She replied, “but for all I know that’s what sets it off.”

“See!” The Doctor continued, “Unknown tinker device. Could be anything! Could be a liquification ray, a mind control device… could even be a screwdriver! You don’t know, but you do know that getting close to it could be the worst mistake you ever make.”

The Doctor kept talking. He barely paused to catch a breath, keeping the villains focused on him, not giving them time to think. It brought to mind a stage magician that Sabah had seen a few years ago. The way he talked, the way he waved his ‘screwdriver’ in the air, keeping it moving, keeping his adversaries focused on it. Misdirection. But for what? What was this man planning? Sabah looked at the Doctor’s other hand. He was pointing at her.

He was buying time for her? But she’d explained her powers. She needed specific materials, she couldn’t just…

The Doctor gestured, ever so slightly, to his right. Then back to Sabah. She blinked. He’d dropped her here for a reason. Chosen to make his stand on this street. She looked around. It was a commercial street, a few small businesses, not successful enough to have storefronts on the Boardwalk proper. Mostly closed at this hour. A burger joint, a post office, a thrift store…

A thrift store!

Moving carefully, slowly so as not to alert the villains, Sabah turned to look in the thrift store window, taking in the racks of clothing that lay beyond. She could work with this! She reached out with her power, letting it seep into the fabric. She pulled out threads, then used them to stitch fabrics together, forming them into shapes that could contain her telekinesis. No time for elegance. Her creations would end up looking like giant snakes or sea-urchins, but they’d serve.

She hoped to have more time to put her creations together, but as soon as the first ones started to move in earnest, Stormtiger’s head snapped to the thrift shop.

Crap! Sabah thought, He senses air currents.

“The doll girl’s doing something!” Stormtiger shouted, and just like that, the stalemate was broken. The Empire capes started to move.

“Ah!” the Doctor called, waving his screwdriver at them. They hesitated, but only for a second. “You don’t want to do that. You see I barely understand how your powers work, but I have taken some scans. Been scanning you right now, in fact… enough that I’m fairly certain I can do… This!”

He pointed the screwdriver at Hookwolf, and Hookwolf… fell apart. There was no other way to describe it. One minute, he was a mass of whirling blades in the vague shape of a wolf, the next, those blades were clattering to the ground, landing in an ungainly pile that twitched and thrashed as it slowly pulled itself back together. Stormtiger and Cricket charged, closing the distance with superhuman agility. Sabah summoned her constructs and the fight was on. The Doctor dodged out of the way of one of Stormtiger’s strikes… just barely, as a giant snake made out of secondhand jeans encircled him. A ball of prom dresses and an octopus made of tee-shirts forced Cricket onto the defensive. The villains slashed at the constructs, Stormtiger with his claws, Cricket with her kamas, but Sabah was ready for them this time. When she felt the power draining from a construct, she sent the scraps floating at the villains, giving them more obstacles to dodge around and obscuring their vision. Larger pieces she dragged back to sew into new creations she could send back into the fray.

But they were fast. Too fast! Both Stormtiger and Cricket had superhuman senses and reflexes, and they were veterans of hundreds of fights. The constructs could slow them, but none of them were able to score a hit. Only a spider made from three leather jackets even came close. Sabah was running out of material, and Hookwolf was getting back up.

As Hookwolf moved to rejoin the fight, the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at him a second time, but Cricket was ready for him. With a silent scream, the device blinked, and shut off. The doctor looked at it in surprise and hit it against his palm.

“Wait!” The Doctor shouted.

“What is it this time?” Hookwolf snarled, “More tricks? The longer this takes, the more painful we’re going to make it when we finally pin you down.”

“Tricks?” The Doctor shrugged. “Not really. Honestly, at this point, I’m just trying to stall you until the cavalry shows up.”

If Hookwolf had a response to that, it was muffled by the spray of containment foam that rained down on the five of them.

By the time Sabah and the Doctor were cut free of the foam, the street was crawling with PRT officers. The Protectorate there too, led by Armsmaster, who was currently having words with the Doctor.

“I believe,” the Doctor said, “that you’ll find everything in order.” He held up something that looked like identification papers, though Sabah couldn’t see details from where she sat.

Armsmaster grunted. “Watchdog huh? Plainclothes cape? That explains why my lie detector can’t get a read on you. It seems to think you have two heartbeats.”

“Yes, Watchdog, that’s me.”

Armsmaster scowled, “I wish you’d told me you were operating in my city. As it is, the paperwork is going to be hell.”

“Ah, yes,” the Doctor replied, “terribly sorry about that. Need to know and all. You know how these things go.”

“Well… I suppose I should thank you.” Armsmaster’s mouth twisted as if saying those words left a sour taste in his mouth. “These guys aren’t easy to get the jump on. Whatever you were doing, you must have had them pretty pissed off at you.”

Sabah felt a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention. She turned to find one of the other heroes had taken a seat next to her. “Parian, right?” Ms. Militia asked.

Sabah nodded, a little intimidated. “Yeah.”

“First, I want to say that what you did today was really heroic. I know that in the past you’ve had no interest in being a hero, and that makes it much more significant that you stepped in to help when you saw somebody in trouble. The world could use more capes like you.” Ms. Militia’s tone didn’t match her words. She hesitated, as if pondering how to say what came next.

“Sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Sabah said.

Ms. Militia nodded. “But,” she said, “You should know that now that you’ve gotten involved in a fight against Empire 88, you might end up a target in the future.”

Sabah swallowed. Everything had gone so fast, she hadn’t been thinking that far ahead. Mostly, she’d assumed that if she made it through today, she could go home and everything would go back to normal.

Ms. Militia continued, “Given the circumstances, I’d like to talk to you about what your options are. You should seriously consider joining the Protectorate.”

“I don’t… I’m not a hero.”

“I know,” Ms. Militia replied, and there was sadness in her voice. “but as a rogue you have next to no protection if somebody comes after you. Being part of a team is how most heroes survive, and even if you don’t want to be a hero, others might see you that way now.”

“What about my classes… my business?”

“There are arrangements we can come to. You wouldn’t be the first Protectorate member who didn’t want to be a full-time hero. Look, you don’t need to make a commitment today, but I wouldn’t wait too long either. I hope you’ll give us a call and at least hear us out.”

It was dark by the time they let them go. Sabah was exhausted, physically and emotionally. If Protectorate capes dealt with stuff like this every day, there was no way she could do it. Right now, she just wanted to go home, have dinner with her family, and curl up under a warm blanket and forget today ever happened.

But she couldn’t forget today happened. She glanced over at the Doctor, who was walking beside her, lost in his own thoughts. She wasn’t sure yet if the man was brilliant or insane, but he was clearly… something. He seemed like the kind of person who caught others in his orbit, whether they wanted to be or not. And if what he was saying about being from another universe was true…

“There’s no way you actually work for Watchdog.” She said at last.

“Nope,” he replied, “Don’t even know what that is.”

“Then how…”

He grinned “Psychic paper. You see what you expect to see.”

“That’s…” Sabah rubbed her temples, “Ok, I’m not going to say that’s impossible because my bar for impossible seems to be moving quite a bit today.”

“What seems impossible,” the Doctor said, “is your ‘Armsmaster’ somehow carrying around a suit full of Ternisian technology.”

Sabah blinked. “What technology?”

“Ternisian. Old civilization, were colonizing a far-off galaxy before your people had invented fire. They did miraculous things with space folding tech. Rivaled the Time Lords, almost. Also had a fantastic opera! Then one day… poof, they’re gone! Leaving behind a dead world, drained of all energy and life. Never heard from again… until now, when devices using their science show up on Earth, in another universe, centuries before you should be developing anything close to that level of technology. Which begs the question… how?”

“Um… I don’t know?”

“Another piece of the puzzle then. By the way, did I hear the lady with the flag bandanna giving you the hard sell on why you should join their little club?”

“Sort of. She thought it would be safer.”

“Ah,” The Doctor looked at his feet. Was that regret in his voice? “I didn’t mean to drag you into any of this. I’m sorry. It was a decent thing you did going out of your way to help me, and I’d hate to see you punished for it.”

“Oh, um…” Sabah was suddenly embarrassed, “It was nothing.”

“It really wasn’t. It’s a big universe, and kindness is a lot rarer than it should be. It’s never ‘nothing.’” He reached into his coat and pulled out a device that looked a bit like a handheld radio, but with more blinking lights. “Take this. It’s a communicator, it should be able to contact me as long as I’m still somewhere in this universe. If you need a hand… I owe you that much.”

Sabah accepted the device. “And if I call, you’ll come and heroically run away again?”

“Hey!” The Doctor said, grinning back at her. “I’m very good at running away. One of the best in the universe, in fact! I could teach classes in running away. Could even charge for it. You’re getting a great deal getting a free running away from me!”

She laughed in spite of herself. The Doctor paused, stopping in front of a blue box about the size of a telephone booth. “Well,” he said, “this is me.”

“This?” Sabah laughed, “you mean, that… box?”

“It’s a quite nice box, you know,” the Doctor sounded almost offended, “Much roomier than it looks.”

Sabah paused, thinking for a moment, then sighed. She still wasn’t quite sure what to make of this strange Doctor, but… In for a penny. “Ok,” she said, “If you’re going to go around antagonizing Nazis and living in a box while solving the mysteries of our universe. Why don’t you… come stay with my family. My mom has a spare bedroom. You get a hot meal and a place to stay, and I can keep an eye on you in case you get into trouble again.”

The Doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Thank you Parian.”

“Call me Sabah.”

Chapter Text

Sabah was worried that her mother would be upset that she had invited a last minute guest to their weekly family dinner. It had turned out to be the opposite problem. Her mother had been thrilled that Sabah had brought home a young man for dinner. She kept making comments about how handsome he was, or asking if he was single, and that was before she learned he was a doctor! Sabah had fended her mother off, deflecting and changing the subject in every way she knew how short of just saying "I don't like men." She really didn't need to have that conversation again. To make matters worse, the Doctor had let them talk about him for a good ten minutes before revealing that he was somehow fluent in Iraqi Arabic and had understood every word they had said. Sabah wondered if it was possible to second trigger out of sheer embarrassment.

Needing a break from the family, but not quite ready to return to her dorm, Sabah stepped onto the back porch. The Doctor was there, looking up at the stars. Beside him was a stack of books, hers from the parahuman studies class she'd taken last semester. He had apparently read them all in the time it took for her to do the dishes.

She joined him in his stargazing. "Thinking of home?"

"Constantly," he replied.

"Still can't quite believe you're an alien."

The Doctor turned to face her, "Well, to be fair," he said, "so are you."

"What?"

"Well, part of you at least." He had an expression on his face that Sabah was beginning to recognize as his I'm being clever look. "I think I figured it out. Why you parahumans are always covered in void particles. It's the source of your powers. Something is connected to you, reaching out through the void forming a symbiotic relationship, and given the amount of power you can throw around, they must be massive. City sized at least! Imagine that. So many parahumans in this city, and each of them with an entire city inside their heads!"

"I'm... not sure I like the idea of there being an alien in my head."

"Well," the Doctor said, "there's no reason to believe they're hostile." He gestured to one of the books. "Things like the Manton Effect might be them trying to protect you."

Sabah shuddered. She wasn't reassured.

"Did you figure out how to get back to your... um... universe?" she asked at length.

"No," he shook his head, "Travel between universes is hard. The TARDIS can go anywhere in time and space, but it's made for travel within a single universe. Taking it out of its home universe causes... problems."

"Travel between universes can't be that hard. I mean, it's happened before. Earth Aleph..."

"That's just it!" he interrupted her, "That's what I can't figure out. Some universes are easy to get to, but only some. It's like someone grabbed a handful of dimensions and walled them off like a private playground, and my universe isn't one of them. I've seen the walls between universes be thin before, and I've seen them be strong, but I've never seen anything like this."

"So what would it take for you to get home?"

"Energy." he said, "lots of energy. The last time I breached dimensional walls, I had to burn up a sun just to send a message. And I can't use Artron energy from this universe. Not compatible." He sighed. "At least I'm not in any rush. I'll keep figuring things out, and eventually I'll find a solution... I hope."

Sabah decided for the sake of her sanity to ignore the casual reference to burning up a sun. Instead she asked, "Aren't you homesick?"

"Always," he replied, "but my home is gone. Destroyed."

"Oh. Your family?"

"Also gone."

"Friends?"

"I travel with people from time to time. I'm... between companions at the moment. Some of them leave. Others... well..." he trailed off. Suddenly, the Doctor looked very, very old.

"I'm sorry."

He gestured to the house where Sabah's family was still gathered. "This. This is special. Hold on to it for as long as you can."

Sabah didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything. Instead, she stood beside the Doctor, the two of them looking up at the stars until her mother called them back inside.

The world was chaos and Sabah was numb. She'd been awakened by the sirens. She'd seen the evacuation orders on the television. But even now, as she pushed through the panicked throngs that filled the streets, it didn't feel real.

Endbringer.

That one word terrified her on a level she'd never felt before. Images flashed through her mind, glimpses of horror seen on the news. Newfoundland. Madison. Lausanne. And now one of the monsters was coming here.

A maniacal giggle escaped her throat. I guess I don't need to explain why I lost the Maggie Holt puppet.

She pushed through the door of her mother's house. Her family had left. Evacuated already. Probably for the best, she thought. If they'd asked me to come with them to the shelter, I'm not sure I could have said no. The Doctor was there, though, sitting on the couch studying the emergency broadcast on the TV. He stood when he saw her.

"Sabah! There you are!"

"Parian when I'm in costume," she managed to mumble.

He waved his hand in the air. "Mind telling me what all this fuss is about?"

"Endbringer attack. Here."

"Ooh! Endbringer! Sounds ominous. Well, shall we see what we can do about it?"

He doesn't know! Of course he doesn't know. He didn't even know what a 'cape' was yesterday. She held out her hand, palm to his chest, stopping him in his path. "Doctor," she said, "This isn't some Empire thugs we're talking about. This is... this is an Endbringer. You should go to the shelters."

"Nah," he said, "Not my style."

"Do you even have powers?"

"Eeeh..." he waved his hand in a 'so-so' gesture.

"Doctor, this is serious!"

He met her eye. "I can't help but notice that you aren't going to the shelters. You told me yesterday you weren't a fighter, that you had no interest in heroics."

"Yes but..." she paused, "When I got my powers, I made a promise. That if this ever happened... If people I cared about were in danger... I don't think I could live with myself knowing I might have been able to do something."

He nodded. "Exactly," he said, "Now lead the way, Parian! Allons-y!"

The rain was coming down hard by the time they reached the staging area. The PRT guards took one look at them and ushered them through. Sabah had taken out her largest and most durable puppets for this. The Gorilla she’d used for a hardware store promotion, the pig she’d put together for her cousin’s seventh birthday party, the lion she’d made for the Big E. They walked behind her, looming over twenty feet tall, and Sabah wondered if she looked intimidating or ridiculous.

She stifled a gasp when they entered the building. So many capes in one place! It was surreal. Villains stood shoulder to shoulder with heroes. Hometown capes milled together with international celebrities. The Triumverate was there. Legend and Alexandria stood at the front of the room, coordinating with Armsmaster, the head of the local Protectorate. Sabah felt like an impostor, a child playing dress-up amidst all these real heroes.

Hi Mister Legend. I’m here to help you fight Leviathan. I brought my birthday pig!

The Doctor didn’t seem intimidated by the crowd in the slightest. He moved among them, occasionally pausing to scan something with that sonic screwdriver thing of his. He held the device sideways, frowned at it, then turned to Sabah.

“I’m going to go talk to the people in charge. Sit tight, I’ll be right back.”

He made his way towards Legend and Alexandria, flashing his psychic paper at the guards when they moved to intercept him. Sabah stood there awkwardly. She’d made a point of avoiding the cape scene and that meant she didn’t really know anybody here. She wished she had somebody to talk to.

She felt a tug on her skirt. “Oh my god, I just love your dress!”

Turning, she saw a little girl wearing a Victorian-inspired outfit similar to hers. She recognized the girl as a child villain from out of town, Bambi or something. She cringed.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

“And your dolls, they’re so cute!” the villain continued, “We should team up. Our aesthetics totally match.”

“Um… I don’t think…” Sabah stammered.

“I’ve been looking for a new gimmick. Have to keep my ratings up, you know. Can you imagine me riding into battle on the back of a giant stuffed animal? So cute! And if you’re lucky, you might get some visibility too… through association with me. I could be your ticket out of this nowhere dump!”

Sabah had no idea how to respond to that. Fortunately, they were interrupted.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

The speaker was a hero. A girl in a purple and white costume with an opaque visor and a crossbow slung over her shoulder. She looked about Sabah’s age, maybe a few years younger, but it was hard to tell without being able to see half of her face.

She grabbed Sabah by the arm, pulling her away into the crowd. “The boss needs to talk with you. Come on!

“Um… do I know you?” Sabah asked, bewildered.

The girl smiled. “No, but you looked like you needed rescuing.”

“Oh… Thanks. Really!”

“Don’t mention it. Gave me an excuse to get away from my awkward conversation. Leadership partnered me up with Shadow Stalker. I guess they thought we’d get along since we’re both archer chicks, but… we really don’t. Can’t be rude though, we might need to watch each other’s backs later.” She sighed, then held out her hand. “Flechette, by the way. New York Wards.”

Sabah took it. “Parian. Um… rogue.”

“You local?”

“Yeah.”

The girl… Flechette, nodded grimly, glancing towards the window. She squeezed Sabah’s hand reassuringly before releasing the handshake. They stood there in silence for a few minutes looking out at the rain.

“I just hope I can do something.” Sabah broke the silence. “Or at least not get in the way. My first fight ever was yesterday. Honestly, I’m not really sure what I’m doing here. This is… I’m scared.” She stiffened. She hadn’t planned to spill her guts like that quite so soon after meeting this new girl, but the random act of kindness had left her vulnerable. She turned towards the hero to gauge her reaction.

“Me too.” Flechette said quietly.

She fidgeted with the strap on her crossbow. Sabah paused, waiting for her to go on.

“Everyone is,” she continued. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in one fight or a hundred, nothing prepares you for something like this.” She gestured towards the assembled hero teams. “The Wards are all acting tough because nobody wants to be the first person on their team to break down crying. The Protectorate capes are acting tough because they don’t want to scare the Wards.” She gave Sabah a soft smile. “Really, it’s kinda nice to have someone I can be honestly terrified with.”

Before Sabah could respond, they were distracted by a commotion at the front of the room. Armsmaster had broken away from his conversation with the Triumvirate and the Doctor, holding his finger to his ear. When he turned back, it was to draw his halberd and level it at the Doctor.

“Armsmaster?” Legend turned to his subordinate, shocked.

“That was Dragon,” Armsmaster replied. “She said this man has been using a Stranger effect.”

“He said he was with Watchdog.”

Armsmaster nodded. “That’s what he told me too. According to Dragon, that paper he showed us is blank!”

“Ah, well!” the Doctor said, “That’s just…”

Alexandria cut him off. “Don’t let him speak!” She stepped forward threateningly, and the Doctor stopped talking, putting his hands up in a placating gesture.

Legend thought for a second, then frowned. “Take him into custody! We’ll sort this out after the battle.”

Sabah started to make her way towards them, but Flechette put her hand on her shoulder.

“He’s with me.” Sabah protested, “He’s not a threat. I have to talk to them.”

“And tell them what?” Flechette shook her head. “Master/Stranger protocols are in effect. If you tell them you’ve been associating with him, they won’t listen to you. Worst case, they’ll lock you up too just to be safe.”

She watched helplessly as the Doctor was led away. Flechette… wasn’t wrong. There wasn’t much she could do. It felt wrong though. The Doctor had talked like he could really make a difference against Leviathan. She had no reason to believe he could, even after his clever antics yesterday, but still…

Someone towards the front said something about “landfall,” and suddenly everyone was moving. If Legend had planned to give some dramatic pre-battle speech, there was no time for it now. Armbands were passed out, capes sorted into groups. Sabah tried to keep her hands from shaking as she joined Alexandria’s group of front-line combatants. Expendable minions, that was her. Her dolls could take hits so that human beings wouldn’t have to. But to control them, she’d have to get close. She looked over at Flechette, who was joining Legend’s “long-ranged attackers” group. Flechette caught her eye and gave her a salute.

Then shouting, screaming, and a crash as a tidal wave smashed the windows showering everyone in water and glass. Then the world was chaos.

This was hell.

Fierceling deceased CD-5, Adamant down CD-5

“Shut up!” Sabah snarled at the armband. She could see the dead and the dying around her just fine. She didn’t need a computerized voice calmly explaining just how badly they were losing.

This wasn’t anything like what she’d imagined. She’d expected Leviathan to be strong. She hadn’t expected him to be fast. Their battle lines had fallen apart almost instantly, the Endbringer attacking the most vulnerable capes, then vanishing as soon as the heavy hitters showed up. She hadn’t thought it possible for a 30 foot tall sea monster to hide, but Leviathan was using decoys, cover and the low visibility of the rainstorm to keep the defenders on the run, never able to bring their full strength to bear.

She looked at her puppets. The originals were long since destroyed, torn to shreds. In their place, she had put together a goat, an octopus and… some kind of bear, she guessed. They were hastily made, thrown together using scrap fabric and the ruins of their predecessors giving them a somewhat harlequin appearance.

“Look out!” someone shouted nearby. Sabah wheeled around to see a wall of water crashing towards them, funneled down one of the city’s narrow streets. A large van was caught in the wave, launched towards the assembled capes like a missile.

Sabah had only a moment to react. The bear-thing threw itself in-between her and the van, and started to deflate. She stopped deflating it halfway so that when it hit her, it was like getting hit by a pillow going at 50 miles per hour.

It still hurt.

Strapping Lad deceased, CD-5, Hew down, CD-5

Guess I was one of the lucky ones.

She struggled to extract herself from the pile of cloth, keenly aware that Leviathan could be moving in for the kill while she was helpless. A hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her free. She looked up to se Flechette helping her to her feet.

“You ok?” the hero asked.

I’m probably more beaten up than I’ve ever been in my life, Sabah thought, but nothing’s broken.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Flechette nodded. “Got separated from my team. No idea where anyone is. I think I can damage him, but the bastard won’t hold still.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to stick together?” Flechette asked. “If he comes back, I’m going to need someone to protect me while I line up a shot… If you’re up for it that is.”

Sabah opened her mouth to reply, but a beeping sound from one of her pockets interrupted her. A crackling voice followed.

“Par… ear… me?”

Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out the Doctor’s communicator. She’d forgotten she had it in all the chaos.

“Parian, can you hear me?” it said clearer this time and in the Doctor’s unmistakable English accent.

“Doctor?”

“Parian!” the Doctor exclaimed, “Brilliant, wonderful Parian! So good to hear your voice, I was afraid you’d lost the device in all the madness.”

“Doctor, where are you?”

“Still in the building we started in. I managed to get a signal out, but I need a bit of help actually leaving. Everyone left, it sounds pretty bad out there, and I really, really hate sitting on the sidelines while people die.”

She looked around, taking in the devastation. “Can you stop this?” she asked.

“I can try,” came the reply, “but not locked in a basement.”

Sabah started inflating the bear, but Flechette put a hand on her chest.

“Woah!” she said, “hold on. You aren’t seriously considering breaking a man out of PRT custody in the middle of an Endbringer fight!”

“He says he can help.”

There was a crash, followed by screaming in the distance. Eidolon flew overhead, flanked by Legend and Myrddin. Flechette looked up at them, then back at Sabah, skeptically.

“But what if he can?” Sabah said.

“Not your call to make.”

“Flechette,” Sabah’s voice was almost pleading, “I can’t… I can’t keep doing this. Watching people die. Fighting just hoping to slow Leviathan down. Wondering if our attacks are even inconveniencing him. I can’t… not if there’s a chance… even a small chance… that someone can end this. I’ll accept the consequences if it comes to that.”

“You sound crazy,” Flechette shot back, “And I’m starting to wonder if you really are under a Master/Stranger effect.”

Sabah stiffened, then took in a deep breath. Turning, she called her goat to her and jumped onto its back, grabbing its horns like reins. “Well, I’m going,” she said finally, “unless you’re going to stop me! Tell them whatever you need to. Tell them the stupid rogue couldn’t handle a real fight and ran away, whatever. But this is something I have to do.” The goat turned and started to trot down the street.

“Parian wait!”

Flechette was running after her. The goat stopped.

“I… am so going to regret this,” the hero sighed. Then she leapt, landing gracefully on the goat’s back, just behind Sabah. “Ok, let’s go.”

The building was hardly recognizable. It had partially collapsed, the upper stories all but gone. Fortunately, the lower levels were intact, at least enough to clear a path to the basement stairs. Sabah had set her octopus to clearing rubble, and after reconfiguring the bear into a bipedal form, it joined in. She listened, nervously for any sounds of the building shifting, hoping her puppets would be enough to support the roof if it started to come down on them.

They found the Doctor in a basement room that might have been a conference room once upon a time. Tables and folding chairs had been pushed aside, leaving a clear area in the center of the room. There the Doctor sat, surrounded by an odd gray blur. Sabah started towards him.

“Stop!” the Doctor shouted, holding up a hand. “Stand back! It’s some kind of nanotechnology. It’ll tear apart anything it touches.”

Sabah stopped in her tracks. Flechette grinned, stepping forward. “I’ve got this,” she said. Grabbing one of the folding chairs, she held it for a second, charging it with her power. Then she thrust the chair into the blur. It made a horrible screeching sound, somewhere between a band saw, and nails on a chalkboard, but when she pulled it away, a path had been cleared through the haze. Flechette spun the seemingly unharmed chair around, put it down and sat in it backwards flashing Sabah a grin.

Is she… showing off?

The Doctor stepped clear of his prison, nodding at the two capes. “Much obliged Parian… and Parian’s friend.” He strode over to a table where his captors had placed his things, apparently in too much of a hurry to inventory them or lock them up. He pulled on his coat, tested his sonic screwdriver, then stuck it in his pocket.

“Ok, ‘Doctor,’” Flechette said, “What are your relevant powers?”

“No powers,” the Doctor replied.

“Ok, what about weapons?”

“Never.”

Flechette paused. “Then what’s the plan?”

“Still working on that,” the Doctor said, stowing away the last of his things and turning towards the door.

“Right,” Flechette said, dryly, “I am so glad I defied orders to break you out!”

The Doctor squinted at her. “I’m sorry, who are you again?”

Sabah stepped in between them. “Hey! Play nice, you two!”

Getting out of the building was much easier than getting in. It was jarring, stepping out of the relative quiet of the structure, back into the wind and the rain. Sabah had taken several steps into the ruined parking lot, before realizing that the Doctor had paused in the door. He stood, still as a statue, looking out at the devastation.

The wrecks of PRT vans and cars littered the lot, alongside chunks of concrete and steel from nearby buildings. Scattered among them were bodies. These were the capes who had been killed in the initial attack. Some hadn’t even had time to realize the fight had started.

Slowly, the Doctor walked forward, into the wreckage. He paused as he passed a heroine who had been impaled on a piece of rebar. One of the out of town capes, not someone Sabah recognized. Maybe a corporate team? She was still alive… barely. Too weak to make a sound, her eyes focused on the Doctor as he stood over her. Gently, he put his hand on hers.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m so sorry.”

He stepped away from the now dead heroine. When he spoke again, his voice was barely a whisper.

“No more.”

He turned, facing towards the distant battle. There was steel in his eyes.

“No more.”

He was louder the second time… but not loud. In fact, in the short time she had known him, Sabah had never seen the Doctor this quiet, or this still. Something about it terrified her. He strode forth, walking quickly enough that Sabah had to jog to keep up with her shorter legs. The driving rain blew his coat back, causing it to billow out behind him as he walked.

No powers.

No weapons.

No plan.

And yet, Sabah couldn’t shake the feeling that it was Leviathan that was in trouble.

They rode through the streets, mounted on the back of Sabah’s goat. She’d cannibalized parts of the octopus to make it long enough to carry all three of them. The rest of the octopus was now a gazelle, which bounded alongside them, protecting their flank. They were close enough to the fighting now that there was real danger. Sabah was constantly splitting her attention between controlling the goat, and moving her other puppets to divert crashing waves or block falling debris. The Doctor barely seemed to notice the danger, not even flinching when they had a close call. Was he really that focused?

Or maybe he just trusts me to protect him.

That was a scary thought.

The Doctor was talking, thinking out loud. “Giant monster. Giant, indestructible monster. Can’t fight it, but there has to be something… What do we know? No, wrong question! What don’t we know? We don’t know where it comes from. We don’t know what it wants. We don’t know why it’s holding back…”

“Holding back?” Flechette shouted incredulously, raising her voice to be heard over the rain. “You call this holding back?”

“Yes!” the Doctor replied. “Think about it. If Leviathan wanted to cause death and destruction, he could just batter the city with tidal waves until it collapsed into the aquifer, but he doesn’t. He comes up here and gets into punching matches with superheroes! Why?”

“Maybe he’s a sadist.” Sabah said, “Maybe he just likes hurting people.”

“No,” the Doctor shook his head, “no, no. It doesn’t fit. There’s no joy there. No anger. It’s almost as if…” He trailed off, then broke into a grin. “Ah! It’s as if I’m asking the wrong question! I shouldn’t be asking what Leviathan wants. I might as well be asking what your goat puppet wants, Parian! What I should be asking is who’s controlling him!”

“You think someone’s controlling Leviathan?”

“It fits.” The Doctor said, “The question is how? There must be some mechanism. Some way of communicating with him, telling him what to do.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Flechette cut in, “but people have theorized that something was controlling the Endbringers before. Even if it is true, even the world’s best Thinkers and Tinkers haven’t been able to figure out how.”

“Well good thing I’m here then.”

“Seriously?” Sabah couldn’t see her eyes, but she could practically hear the eye-roll.

“You’ll see, I just have to get to the TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS?” Sabah gave him a worried look. “That’s your blue box, right? You left it on 4th street… in the Docks. It… might not have survived.”

The Doctor scoffed. “The TARDIS is tougher than it looks. Even without the shielding, it’s far more massive than it appears. To do any real damage you’d have to…” he trailed off again.

“Doctor?”

“That’s it!” he laughed, “That’s the answer. That’s why Leviathan is so hard to hurt. He’s like the TARDIS, his interior dimensions are greater than his exterior dimensions. And that’s why none of you have been able to figure out how he communicates. You’ve only been thinking in three dimensions!”

Sabah brought the goat to a stop. This was where she last saw the blue box… she was pretty sure. It was hard to believe that these streets were ones she had walked for years. Yes! There it was, bright blue amid the gray concrete rubble. The Doctor had been right, even though a building had partially fallen on it, the box didn’t have a scratch.

Hopping off the goat, the Doctor opened the door and hopped in. Sabah had her puppets fan out, preparing to keep watch while he did whatever he needed to do in there.

“What are you waiting for?” The Doctor waved through the door, beckoning them in. “Come on!”

Sabah and Flechette looked at one another, then at the box. Flechette shrugged, and the two of them stepped through the door.

Sabah’s jaw practically hit the floor. It was… huge. Somehow, that blue box contained a room bigger than the house she grew up in, and she was pretty sure she saw doorways leading back to other rooms. The room was round, bathed in yellow light with a circular console at the center. The Doctor was at the console, running to and fro, throwing switches and turning dials. He glanced up at the two girls frozen in the entrance.

“Oh my god,” Flechette said, “It’s…”

“Yes, yes,” the Doctor interrupted her, “bigger on the inside. Didn’t I say that? Now come here, you two, I need your help.”

The Doctor ushered the pair over to a television like screen attached to the console. The screen was displaying a landscape unlike anything Sabah had ever seen. Dark red crystals glowed dimly, occasionally flaring or pulsing.

“What… is it?”

“The Void.” The Doctor said quietly, “or it’s supposed to be. But it’s not… well… a void. Not anymore. Someone or something built these massive structures in the spaces between the worlds, reaching across dimensions. It’s… incredible. Now, I need you to use your powers.”

“For what,” Sabah asked

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, “just use them.”

Again Sabah and Flechette looked at each other, and again, they shrugged. Flechette touched one of her darts, while Sabah telekinetically unspooled some of her extra thread. The crystals on the screen pulsed with light, brighter and closer than before.

“There!” the Doctor said. “Now, next step, Parian, I need your armband.”

She held out her arm. With a wave of his sonic screwdriver, it popped off. Grabbing it, the Doctor continued to wave his device at the armband, causing the screen to flicker and crackle. After a minute, there was a pop, then a woman’s voice came through the speakers.

“Excuse me, but what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Sabah had heard that voice coming through the armbands before. Dragon.

“Terribly sorry,” the Doctor said, “don’t mind me, be done in a bit.”

“You’re taking control of my communications network,” Dragon said dryly. “I’m trying to shut you out and it isn’t working. You can understand why this is cause for some concern.”

“Don’t worry, you can have it back soon. I just need to talk to everyone uninterrupted for a few minutes.”

“Give the message to me,” Dragon responded, “If it’s important, I’ll make sure anyone who needs to hear it does.”

The Doctor shook his head. “People are dying. No time to go through proper channels.”

“Are you aware,” Dragon shot back, “just how serious a crime it is to interfere with an Endbringer event?”

“No, I’ll be sure to have someone tell me later, but for now…” The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver at the armband, and Dragon’s voice cut out. He spoke and his voice echoed out of Flechette’s armband, and, presumably, every functioning armband on the battlefield.

“Attention everyone!” he jumped back from the console holding the armband like a microphone. Only Sabah and Flechette could see him, but he still gesticulated like a showman as he talked. “Coast to coast, and all ships at sea! I might know how to stop Leviathan, but I need your help! All parahumans out there, use your powers on Leviathan! It doesn’t matter if they work, it doesn’t matter if they do anything, I just need as many powers to be used on that thing as possible! If you shoot lasers, zap him, if you make things fly, try to float him, if you control minds, try to control him! It doesn’t matter, just use… your… powers!”

The Doctor turned to the screen, and drew in a breath. At first, nothing happened. Then, pulses of light began to race across the crystals, more and faster than before. The Doctor pressed some buttons, and the image shifted, zooming out. It pulled further and further back from that strange crystalline landscape, until a pattern emerged. All the pulses racing towards the same spot.

“And stop!” the Doctor shouted into the armband. Just like that, the pulses stopped. All except one. A single thread of power connecting to the strange crystalline formation that apparently represented Leviathan.

“Gotchya!” the Doctor exclaimed triumphantly. He threw a lever and the entire console glowed. Sabah’s hair stood on end as a surge of energy shot through the floor, up through the central pillar and out through the top of this strange craft. The thread of power connecting to Leviathan flared brightly, then went dark.

Eidolon down, BW-8

“Huh.”

Leviathan was standing in the middle of the street, motionless. Capes were emerging from cover, cautiously, as if afraid this might be another trick. Hushed voices could be heard from all around, as if they were afraid that speaking too loud might prompt the Endbringer to attack. Sabah slumped against a building gasping for breath. As soon as they’d heard that Leviathan had stopped, the Doctor had taken off at a sprint, running towards the monster, not pausing to let his companions catch up. Flechette stopped next to her panting slightly, and Sabah was briefly jealous of how much better shape the other girl was in. The Doctor, however, kept going, stepping into the open street with Leviathan.

Tentatively, a Tinker raised his gun, pointing it at Leviathan.

“No!” the Doctor shouted, stepping between the tinker and the Endbringer. “Don’t shoot. I’m pretty sure he’ll defend himself.”

The Tinker lowered his gun. “He’s still alive?”

“Oh yes,” the Doctor said, “Alive… active… intelligent. Very intelligent.” He turned to Leviathan. “Aren’t you, big guy?”

“Then why did he stop?” It was another cape who spoke. A local villain, wearing an insect mask.

“Because he doesn’t want to attack you.” The Doctor walked over to Leviathan, reaching out to touch him. “For all his intelligence, Leviathan doesn’t want anything. He just does as he’s told. Leviathan isn’t a monster, he’s a weapon, and for perhaps the first time in history, no one’s finger is on the trigger.”

There was a pause, as the assembled capes took that in. The Doctor, for his part, walked around Leviathan, studying the Endbringer.

“So…” the bug girl spoke at last, “what happens now?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but he never got the chance. A beam of golden light, speared down from the sky, striking Leviathan in the chest. With eerie silence, Scion descended from the clouds, and just like that, the spell was broken. Leviathan moved, his water afterimage crashing into the surrounding capes. The Doctor, who was still standing next to him, was tossed into a nearby wall. The Endbringer ran, dodging Scion’s attacks and launching his own attacks using his hydrokinesis.

Sabah ran over to the Doctor. His injuries looked minor, but he had yet to stand. He stared up at Scion, with a look in his eyes that Sabah had never seen before. Fear.

“No,” he said, quietly, “no, no, no…”

He faces Leviathan without blinking, but he’s afraid of Scion?

“Doctor,” Sabah crouched next to him, “are you ok?”

“I’ve figured it out.” His voice sounded distant. “The last piece of the puzzle. I know what this is. What he is.”

“You mean Scion?”

He nodded. “The pieces were all there. I should have put it together sooner. We… my people… the Time Lords… we know of his kind. We’ve heard of them, though I don’t know if anyone has seen one and lived. They’re planet killers. World devourers. Like viruses, they travel the void, infect worlds and consume them. Not just in one universe, but in every universe. And now Earth…” he trailed off.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Scion’s a hero. He helps people. Why would an alien virus put out fires and rescue kittens?”

“I don’t know,” the Doctor said, “Maybe it’s part of his master plan somehow, haven’t put that together yet. But all this… Powers, Endbringers, everything, it’s him! He’s the source. I’m sure of it. Well… ninety percent sure at least.”

Sabah didn’t know what to say. She was somewhat surprised that she wasn’t more horrified, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around something that big. Finally, she said, “Can these beings be stopped?”

The Doctor shook his head. “They’re not just powerful, they’re precognitive. Before they come to a world, they’ve already simulated every possible action, every possible outcome, and plotted the path that gives them the best results. They adjust that simulation in real time. They can’t be surprised, they can’t be outsmarted. If Gallifrey still stood, if I could contact my people, then maybe… But now? I’m one man with one TARDIS, a long way from home.”

He looked defeated. Such a far cry from the man she’d found on her mom’s couch that morning. The man who was so unconcerned that an Endbringer was on its way. The man who’d talked and acted like the Endbringers could be beaten, not just survived, and then actually stopped one. If the situation was that bad, if Scion really was some kind of world-eating alien, they’d need that man.

Gathering her resolve, grasped the Doctor’s shoulders, looking him dead in the eye. “Ok,” she said, “So what are you going to do about it?”

There was a long pause, a stillness despite the rain falling around them and the sounds of battle in the distance. Then the Doctor grinned.

“Sabah,” he said, forgetting to use her cape name, “Sabah, Sabah, Sabah. Look at you!” He pulled himself to his feet, pulling her up with him, then clapped her on the back. “So scared. So overwhelmed. And still you don’t give up. Nazis, Endbringers, alien gods, hah! Thank you Sabah. Sometimes I need a reminder.”

“A reminder of what?”

He clasped her hand. “Of why I love humans. Why I protect them.”

“So what now?” she asked, “What’s our next step?”

The Doctor thought for a moment, looking around. “Now,” he said, “you go home.”

Sabah opened her mouth to protest, but the Doctor shushed her. “bu bu bu. I’m not abandoning you, don’t worry. However, it’s not a good idea for you to be seen with me right now. I annoyed some powerful people today. If I had a defeated Endbringer to show for it, it would be fine, they could hardly complain, but now… now I’m betting people are going to want to ask questions and point fingers, and a lot of them are going to be looking for me. Go home, Sabah. Find your family, make sure they’re ok. I’ll see you around.”

It made sense. She didn’t like it, but it made sense. “And what will you do?”

“What I do best,” the Doctor gave her a lopsided grin, “I’m going to run.”

With one last nod, he turned and ran down the ruined street, coat billowing behind him as he vanished into the mist.