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Chapter Text

New York City, the Big Apple, a center for all sorts of weirdness, including the stuff happening today. On this particular day, a jet flew over the city to a tower with a stylized A near the roof. The less average joe would think the jet was a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, decommissioned in 1998. The more detail-oriented would say that it was bigger than a Blackbird, the cockpit had ruby-quartz windows, and had VTOL characteristics. The jet hovered over the tower and slowly descended to a courtyard behind the building, having been given clearance to land. The courtyard opened to reveal an underground hangar. Inside the hangar, a man in a bodysuit modeled after a panther with yellow eyes stood by. The jet switched its engines off once it had fully touched down and a landing ramp extended from the jet. A strange gaggle of people then came out. Leading the group was a woman with African features and naturally white hair and blue eyes. Following behind and pulling a stretcher with a woman on it was a small woman with pink fur and quills wearing a black dress. The woman on the stretcher had African features, but her hair was dark brown and wavy. Following the stretcher was a blue-skinned woman in a purple dress with two head tails. Bringing up the rear was an African-American man in a doctor’s coat. In order, the people that were walking were Ororo Munroe AKA Storm of the X-Men, Amy Rose the Hedgehog from the future planet of Mobius, Lurra Rus the Twi’lek, and Dr. William Davies. “Welcome!” called the man in the panther suit. This was King T’Challa of Wakanda, the Black Panther and Storm’s husband. Storm’s face lit up when she saw him.

“My King!” she said.

“Ah, my lovely Queen!” replied the Black Panther. The two embraced, then the Black Panther dismissed his mask enough to give Storm a proper kiss. “You look radiant today as you always do!” praised Black Panther.

“How fares our home?” asked Storm.

“It’s still a wonderful land!”

“Well, it has a wonderful King!” Storm then sighed. “But it’s not homesickness that brings me here today, my love.”

“I had received your message, Ororo,” said the Black Panther. “Where is this doctor I heard about?”

“Do you mean me or the alien woman on the stretcher?” asked William.

“Dr. William Davies, yes?” asked the Black Panther. “I heard much about you. You saved my aide’s life during that disastrous conference.”

“Just did my job that day, your Majesty,” replied William. “Just like I need to do now. Amy, Lurra, this way, please.” William then led Amy and Lurra Rus out of the hangar.

“…Never a dull moment, hm?” sighed the Black Panther.

“Where’s everyone else?” asked Storm.

“They’re on a mission in space with the Fantastic Four,” replied the Black Panther. “Galactus was getting too close to breaking his promise to leave us alone.”

“Of course,” sighed Storm. “And right when we may need all the Avengers.”

“Why?” asked the Black Panther.

“Veranke’s on her way here,” explained Storm. “There’s a Skrull in the Xavier Institute that has their equivalent of the X Gene. He’s a Skrull version of Colossus.”

“And Veranke’s as anti-mutant as any human,” sighed the Black Panther. He then noticed the blue box being carried out. “Erm, does that belong to the alien doctor you talked about?”

“Her friends call it the TARDIS,” replied Storm. “Apparently it’s her home. William asked for it to be brought to the commons room.”

“Right then,” declared the Black Panther.

In the medical ward, William checked his previous readings on the woman and compared them to the current ones. “…Yep, looks like that energy I first detected,” he said to Amy and Lurra Rus, “was regeneration energy. She must have recently regenerated when we first met.”

“How do we treat her?” asked Lurra Rus.

“She’s gonna be a bit out of sorts,” replied William. “Her mind will be still busy reconstructing itself and restoring memories. When she wakes up, she’ll be looking for the TARDIS key. So we need to keep it out of her reach until the regeneration’s fully taken hold.” William checked the woman’s shoes. “…Nope, not this time.”

“Hey! Look!” called Amy as she pulled a key out of the woman’s coat pocket.

“Perfect! I’ll hold onto it until she’s fully regenerated!” said William as he took the key and put it in his pants pocket.

Lightyears from Earth, but rapidly closing in, a shuttle made its way to our planet. Inside was a green skinned woman with a bumpy chin, black hair, and pointy ears. This was Veranke, Queen of the shape-shifting Skrulls and the empire they commanded. Her aide, a male Skrull, checked the readings. “We’re thirty minutes from Earth, your Majesty.”

“Good. I look forward to tearing the Time Lord apart so they can’t interfere with the mutant’s execution!” cackled Veranke. “We’ll be the rulers of the universe as it is written!”

“As it is written,” replied the aide.

10 minutes later, the woman woke up. She groaned as she rubbed her temples. She then looked up at the ceiling, a vague memory surfacing in her still-scattered brain. “…Right, neither cruel nor cowardly. …Hope and mercy. …The mission? …Oh, yes, my mission! …Then…I’M the Doctor?” The woman sat up and saw a mirror. Her hazel eyes widened. “…Oof, that nose!” she muttered. “Way too small. …Although, the eyebrows…yes, I can communicate on Delphon!” She then looked at her clothes. “…Right, I need new clothes, then some answers.” She then got up and started looking around. “…Oddly familiar,” she muttered. She wandered Avengers’ Tower until she arrived at the commons room. “…VERY familiar,” she muttered. She then saw it. In the center of the room was a blue London 1960’s Police Box. “…Now THAT I know!” she said as she smiled. Yes, she knew it very well! It was a TARDIS in disguise! The Doctor’s TARDIS! HER TARDIS! Now she remembered! “Yes! YES! I am…the DOCTOR!” With that, her memories of her past lives came back! The Doctor…checked over her wardrobe. She was still wearing her previous incarnation’s clothes! “…Key!” she said. “Where’s my-?!”

“Looking for this?” asked a voice. The Doctor turned to see William, Amy, and Lurra Rus standing there. It took her a minute to remember who was who.

“…Dr. Davies!” said the Doctor as she shook William’s hand. “You’ve got an adopted mutant brother! And Amy Rose! You’re still going back to Mobius the long way around! And Lurra Rus! You wanted a new home outside your galaxy and time!”

“She remembers!” cheered Amy.

“Well, come on, you two!” the Doctor said to Amy and Lurra Rus. “William, you want to come again?”

“I don’t think so, Doctor,” replied William. “You’re forgetting who’s coming.”

“Yeah, that Veranke lady!” recalled Amy.

“Oh, yeah,” recalled the Doctor. “The Skrull Queen. Wants to kill Trakis for being a mutant.”

“On top of that, I don’t know your full mental condition,” said William. “So until I do…” he held up the TARDIS key, “this is staying in my pocket.”

“…I see,” mused the Doctor. “…Well, if that’s how it is, that’s how it is. Hug?”

“…Sure, why not?” chuckled William. The two hugged.

“…I missed you, you know?” said the Doctor.

“I missed you too,” replied William. “I gotta show you my girlfriend!”

“Girlfriend?” asked the Doctor.

“Yeah! Her name’s Skarla!” The Doctor’s eyes widened.

“S-Skarla?” she asked. She then stammered.

“What, you going Porky Pig on me? Yeah, Skarla the Super Skrull. Has the powers of the Fantastic Four!”

“Hang on, William,” said Amy, “you’re dating a SKRULL?!”

“She’s from the Skrull Colony here on Earth,” assured William. “She’s all right.”

“You’re sure about this?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Positive,” said William. Just then, a woman walked in. “Ah! There she is!”

“William, you weren’t at your post and-,” replied the woman. She then saw the TARDIS. “…O-Oh, I see you’re entertaining guests.”

“Skarla, it’s all right, the Doctor and her friends aren’t gonna bite,” soothed William. The woman rolled her eyes, then she turned back into her Skrull form.

“You just HAD to blab my origins to a Time Lord!” she hissed. “We’re not exactly friends!”

“That may change,” replied the Doctor. “How do you do? I’m the Doctor.”

“William told me about his travels with you, Doctor,” said Skarla.

“Ah, good! Then perhaps you’d like to step inside?” The Doctor fished out her key! William goggled and patted his pockets, then groaned.

“You sneaky-!” he grumbled.

“Wait a minute, Doctor, you can’t just fly away like that!” yelped Amy.

“Who’s flying?” asked the Doctor. “These clothes don’t fit me and I’m sure the TARDIS redecorated.” She fit the key into the lock and pushed the door open. “…Oh, you HAVE redecorated!” she whispered when she looked inside. “…I really like it!” She looked back outside. “Come on! Come see what the TARDIS looks like now!” She entered the TARDIS.

“…Well, if she’s offering,” sighed Lurra Rus.

“There’s no way it’s dimensionally transcendental as you said, William!” scoffed Skarla.

“Oh no?” asked William. “Come and see.” He pulled Skarla inside.

“Hey, don’t you 21^st century Earth guys remember ‘Ladies First’?!” called Amy as she and Lurra Rus entered. Everyone gasped in amazement.

Chapter Text

“This is impossible!” breathed Skarla. “H-How-?! It’s…bigger on the inside!”

“It’s also red,” remarked William. The TARDIS console room had changed to have a red color with gold accents and roundels along the walls. The hexagonal console itself was red with gold trim and controls. The Time Rotor in the center of the console was still transparent, but one could see new machinery inside it. There were walkways and stairs running along the walls with different doors. The Doctor’s sky-blue coat hung outside a door on ground level. Everyone headed to the door. “Doctor?” called William.

“Come in! I need some opinions!” replied the Doctor from inside. The group entered the room to discover that it was a huge wardrobe! The shelves and open closets stretched all the way to the ceiling with a spiral staircase in the center of the room and walkways stretching out from the stairs. The Doctor then stepped out wearing a brown coat, a floppy brimmed hat, and an absurdly long, multicolored scarf.

“…Um, Doctor?” asked Amy.

“You’re right, this is just for the nostalgia,” remarked the Doctor as she tossed the hat away. She then disappeared into one of the closets and reappeared coming out onto one of the walkways above. She wore a leather jacket this time. “…No, don’t exactly sound like I’m from Northern England.” She went into another closet, then she appeared on a walkway below the group, wearing a patchwork, multi-colored coat.

“NO!” shouted the group as they averted their eyes.

“Maybe in a Pride Parade!” called William.

“…I know what the real issue is!” said the Doctor as she snapped her fingers. “I’m wearing trousers!” She disappeared into another closet, then came out onto a walkway above the group. She had a skirt on, a tweed jacket, and a bow tie and fez. “…Mmm, bow ties ARE cool and so’s the fez, but…no, not me this time.” She then disappeared into another closet. “AHA!” she called from within the closet. Her friends then heard a pop like someone finishing putting on their lipstick. The Doctor then rejoined her friends. She wore a woolly coat that obscured her features.

“…Is…that what you’re going with?” asked Lurra Rus.

“No, THIS is!” The Doctor removed the coat to reveal that she was wearing a skirt that had a dome shape stopping at her thigh and was hemmed with large roses. She had a strap top on in the same wine color as her skirt and wore a red jacket with a fur boa wrapped around her shoulders, black opera gloves, black tights, pale gold flats on her feet, red lipstick, and a pale gold headband with a rose on its left hand side. She had also pulled her hair into an updo.

“Ooh! Now THAT’S an elegant ensemble!” praised Amy.

“Yes, I think I’ll go with this one!” agreed the Doctor as she looked in the mirror. “Now, with that out of the way, there’s something else in the back of my mind. Something about …time?”

“Well, you ARE a Time Lord,” reminded Amy.

“I remember what TARDIS stands for and what it can do,” replied the Doctor. “But no, this is something else.” Just then, an energy wave washed over everyone. They seemed unaffected.

“Wh-What was that?!” yelped Amy.

“A chronal surge,” answered the Doctor. “As if time had spat someone from one time zone to ano-!” She stopped herself as she remembered something. “…The Grouping!” she gasped. She then rushed to the console! “Telepathic circuits! Telepathic circuits! Where are they?! Where are they?!” She then saw a blinking light. “…Or Gallifrey could start a Zoom call, that’s the next best thing.” The Doctor pressed the button near the light. “This is the Doctor, receiving you, Gallifrey!” A man’s face then appeared on the scanner.

“Doctor, are you all right?” asked the man.

“Stognav!” greeted the Doctor. “I’m fine, but that chronal surge-!”

“We’ve detected others, Doctor. …Did the surge-?”

“No, no, I was shot by a Skrull before that happened.”

“I see,” said Stognav. “Well, we can at least pinpoint what happened during your local chronal surge. Something from the 29^th century took advantage of it and is now at your location. Good or ill, I can’t say.”

“Keep me posted if you can,” directed the Doctor.

“Naturally. Stognav out.” The call ended.

“Who was that?” asked William.

“Castellan Stognav, my granddaughter’s right-hand man,” replied the Doctor.

“I’m sorry, GRANDDAUGHTER?!” yelped William.

“We’ll explain later,” said Amy and Lurra Rus.

“Right now, we have to deal with the current Grouping Event,” muttered the Doctor.

“What IS the Grouping?” asked Skarla. The Doctor took a bit to find the right analogy.

“…The Time Vortex sort of develops…hiccups,” she said, “and catapults random people into non-native time zones. Some time travelling races can take advantage of it.”

“And not every time traveling race follows the Doctor’s example,” said Lurra Rus.

“So the Daleks could take advantage of it,” sighed William.

“They could,” remarked the Doctor as she checked her instruments. “…But we have more immediate concerns. I’m detecting that 29^th century person aboard a shuttle just entering Earth’s atmosphere above New York City.”

“Veranke!” gulped Amy.

“Hoo boy, better double check my powers,” said Skarla.

The team stepped onto the smaller landing pad on the roof of Avengers’ Tower. Storm and the Black Panther had joined them and were filled in on what was happening. “Skarla and I will fly up there and reconnoiter,” said Storm.

“Be safe, my love,” warned the Black Panther.

“That goes for you too, Skarla,” directed William.

“We’ll be back, boys. Don’t fret,” soothed Skarla. “Now…how does Young Mr. Storm put it? …Ah, yes! FLAME ON!” Her whole body set itself on fire!

“WHOA!” yelped the Doctor.

“It’s all right!” replied William. “That’s just her doing a Human Torch. Or rather, a Skrull Torch. Pardon the corniness, but I always said she was hot long before I knew she was a Super Skrull!” Storm and Skarla then took off. Skarla then spotted the Skrull ship.

“That’s Veranke’s shuttle!” she gulped.

“We better get her to turn back,” replied Storm. “How long can you maintain your flame in stormy conditions.”

“Longer than Johnny Storm, but only just,” said Skarla. “We had to alter things a bit so I was a little more stable than the first Super Skrull and that meant some tradeoffs.”

“Well, you create something fiery to get her to stop,” directed Storm, “I’m gonna make it rain to get her to turn around.”

“Got it.” Skarla made a beeline towards the shuttle.

“Your Majesty-!” yelped Veranke’s aide.

“I have eyes, Brilkus!” snarled Veranke as she pressed a button for the weapons system. The shuttle fired, but Skarla dodged. The weather then turned dark as storm clouds gathered.

“Mistress, we need to-!” urged Veranke’s aide.

“Engage teleporter!” ordered Veranke. “We’ll retrieve the shuttle later!” She and her aide then hopped onto the teleporter and vanished.

Skarla saw the flash of the teleporter. “Crapbaskets!” she swore. “Storm, there was a teleporter in that shuttle!”

“Bast’s sake!” grumbled Storm, using her husband’s preferred swear. “All right, we’ll need to get this shuttle away from here!”

“Better warn the harbor!” replied Skarla. “I’ll take care of getting it away from the city!” Storm sped off and did so, then Skarla stretched her arms and wrapped around the shuttle’s wings, then used her immense strength to throw the shuttle towards the harbor. She then created an invisible force field slide so the shuttle could land on something and slide down it away from any boats or ships out there. The shuttle splashed into the water outside the harbor. Skarla and Storm then made their way back to Avengers’ Tower.

“Okay, so a teleporter was used,” muttered the Doctor when she got the news as she worked on a device.

“We’ll have to search the city for those two,” muttered Amy.

“Doctor, we’re shape-shifters!” reminded Skarla.

“Exactly, which is why I’m thinking of drawing them here,” replied the Doctor. “There we go! Finished!” The machine she made was flight capable.

“…You’ve reinvented the drone, Doctor,” remarked William.

“It’s a short-term drone, meant to be a target. And, hopefully, with good audio projection AND reception.” The Doctor pulled out her sonic screwdriver, switched the drone on with it, and the drone took off.

“Your Majesty, a drone!” called Veranke’s aide.

“What in the name of-?” muttered Veranke.

“Doctor calling Veranke!” came the Doctor’s voice, loud and clear. “Doctor calling Veranke! You have two options available to you. Either retrieve your shuttle and leave this planet or come to Avengers’ Tower to settle this and be forced to leave this planet. Speak aloud which option you pick.”

“Foolish Doctor!” laughed Veranke. “I accept your invitation to Avengers’ Tower! And I shall take care of you first before I deal with Trakis! The Time Lords will finally be extinct, as it is written!” She shot the drone. “Brilkus, with me!” she ordered her aide.

Chapter Text

“She’s chosen to come here,” said the Doctor.

“We’d best be ready,” replied Storm. The Black Panther took a radio in his hands.

“All non-combative personnel are to evacuate to the shelters,” he ordered. “Those with combat training will stay. Remember the SHIELD training concerning Skrulls.”

“In the meantime,” said the Doctor, “I’d better get to work on a Skrull detector.”

“The humans are trying to raise their defenses, your Majesty,” remarked Veranke’s aide. “I personally think it’s cute that they think they can do anything to you.”

“I can see where you say that,” replied Veranke. “Let’s split up and play with these animals.” The two Skrulls split up and disguised themselves.

The aide went to one part of the tower, disguised as a soldier and rushing to do something to “aid in the Tower’s defenses”. He then rounded a corner and spotted a soldier kneeling over something. Judging from his research, the aide correctly deduced that he was a Private. He looked at his own clothes and saw the symbol for a sergeant. “PRIVATE!” he shouted. “What in Sam Hill do you think you’re doing, lazing about?!” The Private didn’t answer. “HEY! I’M TALKING TO YOU, SOLDIER! OR ARE YOU DEA-!?” He stopped when he saw a piece of tech that WASN’T human. “…What in the Hell?” he muttered. “Private, where did you get that?” asked the aide. The Private then stepped aside…to reveal a body. The face looked like the Private’s but the body was opened and had evidence of dissection! The aide gasped. “…Y-You’re not-!” he gasped.

“We saw you change your face,” replied the fake Private as he strode forward. The aide leveled his gun at the fake Private.

“I’m warning you, back-!” The fake Private grabbed the gun and summoned electricity to destroy it! The aide turned back into his usual Skrull shape in fear, then the fake Private glowed green as he grabbed the aide and delivered a fatal bio-electric shock to his system.

While that was going on, Veranke slipped through the ranks before arriving at the commons room. The only one there was the Doctor. Veranke gasped when she saw the TARDIS. “…Now do you believe William?” asked the Doctor. “He said that you didn’t believe that I was a Time Lord.”

“…You aren’t fooled?” asked Veranke.

“Well, when you’ve got an early warning system that can analyze the proteins in Skrull cells that allow you to change your face, you’re not easily taken by surprise,” replied the Doctor.

“…I had no idea YOU had survived, Doctor,” said Veranke as she assumed her real shape. “I was under the impression that all the Time Lords were extinct.”

“Oh, we came back,” answered the Doctor.

“You should have stayed extinct.” Veranke drew her gun.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you!” The Doctor pointed her sonic screwdriver at the gun.

“That’s a sonic probe!”

“Screwdriver,” corrected the Doctor.

“It’s harmless,” replied Veranke.

“You’re right, doesn’t maim, doesn’t kill, but I’ll tell you what it DOES do. …It is VERY good…at opening doors!” The Doctor switched the screwdriver on, filling the air with its usual buzz. The doors unlocked and Storm, the Black Panther, Skarla, and Amy leapt out.

“…How?” asked Veranke as she pointed at Skarla. “How did your colony learn the secrets of creating a Super Skrull?!”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?!” Skarla stretched herself and wrapped around Veranke. Veranke struggled, then sighed.

“Can’t believe I’m doing this!” she grumbled. She then bit Skarla.

“OW!” shouted Skarla.

“Skarla, back away!” called Storm. Skarla unwrapped herself from Veranke and Storm directed lightning to strike the Skrull Queen. Unfortunately, Veranke had activated an anti-lightning shield. “…Of course,” grumbled Storm. The Black Panther then struck, swiping his claws at Veranke. He scored a blow and cut Veranke’s cheek.

“ARGH! Backwards primitive!” snarled Veranke as she pointed her gun at the Black Panther. Amy then knocked the gun out of the Skrull Queen’s hands with her hammer.

As the fight went on, William and Lurra Rus finished the last of the civilian staff evacuations. “Right! That’s the last of them!” he said.

“Now, to make sure…erm, William,” said Lurra Rus.

“Yeah?”

“Do you recognize that technology?” Lurra Rus pointed at the alien device. William arched an eyebrow.

“It…doesn’t look like any of the tech I’ve seen or became familiar with,” he said.

“It’s unfamiliar to me too,” remarked Lurra Rus. The two cautiously approached it and carefully put a finger to it. …Nothing happened. “Maybe the Doctor can figure it out,” said Lurra Rus.

“She’s probably busy with Veranke,” replied William. “And we need to check for her aaaaaaaaiiiiiiiyYIKES!” William fell flat on his rear when he saw two dissected corpses! Lurra Rus gagged in disgust. William steeled himself and made his way to the corpses. He examined the human one. “…Private Anderson…” he said. “…I fixed his broken leg a year ago!” He then looked at the other. “…That must have been Veranke’s aide!”

“What could have done this?!” shuddered Lurra Rus.

“Intruders,” said a voice. William and Lurra Rus turned…to see Veranke’s aide standing there. William looked back and forth between the corpse and the aide standing there.

“…You dissected them…” he gulped, “…to understand their biology…and make the disguise believable in terms of appearance!”

“We are specially trained in the metamorphosis techniques,” replied the aide’s double. “You know too much!”

“And so will the Doctor!” warned Lurra Rus.

“Doctor?” asked the double.

“A Time Lord,” explained William as he grabbed the device.

“DROP THE RECORDS DEVICE!” ordered the double as electricity crackled in its fingers.

“RUN!” shouted William. He and Lurra Rus ran with the double in hot pursuit.

Veranke was tiring out with the non-stop attacks. These people had obviously planned this! Her opponents stopped their attack as Veranke collapsed, panting all the while. The Skrull Queen glared at her attackers. “Now, Queen Veranke,” said the Doctor, “do you yield?”

“Where the hell is Brilkus?!” demanded Veranke. “He was supposed to regroup with me! What did you do to him, Time Lord?!”

“You mean your aide?” asked the Doctor. “I haven’t seen him.” William and Lurra Rus then burst into the commons room, locking the door behind them.

“Doctor, we’ve got trouble!” warned William. The Doctor’s eyes widened in shock when she saw the device in his hands.

“William, where did you get that?” she asked.

“From the murderer of a human and Veranke’s aide!” replied Lurra Rus.

“What?! Brilkus is dead?! Explain yourselves!” demanded Veranke.

“First off,” panted William, “let me stress that neither Lurra Rus nor I were responsible for your aide’s death! It looks like we have another shape-shifter here! They dissected the poor victims with surgical precision and given my own skills with a scalpel, I KNOW surgical precision when I see it! They must have used what they learned about our respective biology to craft their disguise!”

“That’s exactly how they would do it,” muttered the Doctor.

“You know this shape-shifter, Doctor?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Yes, and judging by the records device here, I’d say the shape-shifter is the person from the 29^th century we’re looking for. It looks like they were prepared to take advantage of the Grouping. Odd, really, considering they don’t use time travel.”

“What is this creature, then, Doctor?” asked Veranke.

“A creature I met before, on the island of Fang-.” The Doctor didn’t get to finish her sentence as the door exploded via an electric blast. The double of Veranke’s aide then stormed into the room. It scanned the room visually, then spotted the TARDIS.

“…Who owns that craft?” it demanded.

“I do,” replied the Doctor. “And you need to stop!”

“Why should we obey you, Doctor?” asked the double. “After all, you killed us at Fang Rock. Many times there, in fact. The scout and the mothership.”

“You lot were planning to set up a power base here on Earth to try and beat the Sontarans back!” replied the Doctor. “And those are the only deaths I’m responsible for!”

“We are one, Doctor. To harm one is to harm all.”

“Nevertheless, I plead necessity for my friends’ survival! Look, why don’t you shed that disguise? It’s rather hot in here.”

“…Very well, we will grant you that request,” replied the double. It then glowed green and seemed to shrink into something vaguely ball-shaped before tentacles and a single black orb for an eye appeared. The glow died and the creature now looked like a giant, green jellyfish.

“William, Amy, Lurra Rus, you all met the Sontarans before,” said the Doctor, “now meet their sworn enemy, the Rutans!”

“Hang on a second, I’m engaged in negotiations with the Rutan Host!” protested Veranke. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“We are not from this time, Veranke,” replied the Rutan. “We came here to prevent you from delaying our victory over the Sontaran Rabble!”

Chapter Text

“I see what’s going on here!” chuckled the Doctor. “The Kree/Skrull/Shi’ar Mutual Defense Compact of the 29^th century has kept you on the back foot in your war against the Sontarans!”

“That is a lie!” argued the Rutan.

“Is it?” replied the Doctor. “You still haven’t regained the space you once controlled in this time and it won’t change for about eight centuries. The only advance you’ve made in that span of time is you don’t need to dissect someone to shapeshift into them.”

“The Glorious Rutan Army is making a series of strategic withdrawals to selected strong points!”

“Oh, sweet Chaos!” complained Amy. “It was unimpressive when the Daleks said it, it’s REALLY unimpressive when YOU say it!”

“Your mockery will cease, mammal,” retorted the Rutan, “when the mighty Rutan Battle Fleet finally occupies this planet!”

“One, if what the Doctor said is true, why did you dissect those poor people?” asked William. “Two, why invade us? We’re pretty obscure in the 21^st century.”

“Your planet is obscure, yes,” answered the Rutan, “but its strategic position is sound. We shall use it as a launch point for our glorious final assault against the Sontaran dogs!”

“I need this planet!” snarled Veranke. “If you set up a power base here, the Sontarans will bombard the planet with photonic missiles and reduce it to a lifeless rock and the prophecy-!”

“Was abandoned by our time,” interrupted the Rutan.

“…You lie!”

“It doesn’t,” replied the Doctor. “You Skrulls and the Kree end your war in a stalemate, then two centuries later, you both enter into a mutual defense compact, then you add the Shi’ar to that compact three centuries after that. As for you, Rutan, Veranke’s objections to the Sontarans-.”

“Are as unimportant as what the Sontarans will do,” said the Rutan. “It will serve the cause of our inevitable final victory.”

“And what about its people?”

“Primitive bipeds with no value. The planets of this solar system have been scouted, even the dwarf planet. Earth still suits our purpose in this time.” The Doctor’s face darkened.

“I can understand your military purposes,” she continued, “but why murder helpless humans?”

“It is necessary,” replied the Rutan. “Veranke’s return to the fleet will end all negotiations with the Rutan Host. She must die and Earth will pay the price.”

“But she’s alive,” chuckled the Doctor. “You killed two innocent people to try and get close to her, but she’s now in a position to do something to ensure she survives! You failed!”

“Failed?! The records device accurately tells us when she would leave Earth! We have plenty of time, even with you interfering, Doctor!”

“You don’t know that, you know,” remarked the Doctor. “The records device only says that she left Earth and ended negotiations, it doesn’t give an exact date and time.” Electricity crackled as the Rutan became annoyed.

“That is unimportant!” it insisted. “As long as Veranke is here, our mission will be accomplished!”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, oyster face,” chuckled the Doctor, “but I have a few ideas on how to send you back.”

“You cannot enact them, Doctor! We are NOT entering your time ship!”

“You can’t be certain that my plans involve my TARDIS.”

“What else could your plans involve, Time Lord?” asked the Rutan.

“Well, if you’ll follow us, we’ll show you!” laughed the Doctor as she rushed to the commons room balcony door. Her friends and Veranke followed and the Rutan, driven by their mission to kill Veranke and the Doctor, followed them. When they got outside, the Doctor’s group blinked as they saw strange machinery along the exterior frame of the door.

“What’s that?” asked Storm.

“Time cage,” replied the Doctor. “Works like so!” The instant the Rutan entered the threshold, the Doctor switched the machine on and projected an energy field, trapping the Rutan in it. “There we go!” said the Doctor. “With that, you should be frozen there until I can send you back!”

“You will regret this, Doctor!” retorted the Rutan. “The Records Device has already been mass produced in our time! Every Rutan is equipped with one! You send us back to the 29^th century and another will take our place! For the glory of our race! Long live the RutaaAARRGGHHAAAAAAAAA!” The Rutan’s head was starting to shrivel!

“What?!” yelped the Doctor. “That’s not what I-!” She whirled around to see Veranke altering the settings. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” She leapt at Veranke and tried to get her away from the controls!

“GET OFF ME, TIME LORD!” shouted Veranke. By the time the Doctor got Veranke away from the controls, the Rutan had crumbled into dust. The Doctor switched the machine off too little, too late. Her attempt at mercy was subverted. She stormed up to Veranke.

“That wasn’t necessary!” she snarled.

“Don’t even try to be squeamish about death, Doctor,” retorted Veranke. “It follows you everywhere.”

“Not by choice, I can assure you,” hissed the Doctor. “I try to PREVENT death, even the deaths of my enemies!”

“That must be why the Daleks still plague the universe.”

“Do you really think that the universe will be a better place if we all just resorted to killing our enemies or enslaving them?!” The Doctor was using the entire balcony as her stage. “Just look at these people!” She pointed to her friends. “They were met with cruelty and heard that a person needs to be cruel to survive a cruel world and do you know what they said?! They said ‘No’! They know, deep down, that continuing to keep the world cruel won’t make things better! William treated Trakis even though, not ten minutes before that, I intercepted a shot meant for him! Amy Rose, I’m sure she’s tempted to cave Eggman’s head in, but she always holds her hammer blows back! Lurra Rus, she sent anti-Imperial articles around her old galaxy and it caused the fall of the Empire! Storm, she’s saving lives despite a good chunk of those live hating her for having the X Gene! Black Panther, he’s the king of a nation that, despite its technological advances, is poo-poo’d because his nation is part of a continent that everyone else associates with primitives! Despite ALL those setbacks, they STILL choose kindness because they’re sick of a cruel world and want to see a kind one take its place! And they do it by CONVINCING people that they’re right! By winning hearts and minds! They don’t force people to adopt their views and they sure as hell don’t point a gun to their heads and tell them to believe in what they say for their own good or they’d kill them! …Veranke, all I ask is that you see things from their perspective.” Veranke simply looked at the Doctor with a cold look.

“…You held my gaze during your speech, I’ll grant you that,” the Skrull Queen finally said. “You looked me directly in the eyes, so I know you believe you’re telling me the truth. So let me give you that same courtesy as I tell you now; every single letter you strung together and vocalized…was nothing more than sheer idiocy!” The Doctor’s friends stepped back. “You said so yourself, they hate that the world is cruel and are trying to change it. Yet you’re telling me that they’re NOT forcing others to accept their view? Don’t be ridiculous. If they had the power to change the world, they would exercise that power by any means necessary! If they’re just giving speeches, or simply gathering for protests…then they’re NOT exercising that power, otherwise the current regime they hate would be destroyed! They’d solve the problem all at once!”

“You really think us chipping away at the problem ISN’T solving it in the long run?” asked Storm. “I’m sorry, but the Doctor’s speech reaffirmed that what I’m doing IS right.”

“That speech did the same for me,” said William.

“And me,” declared Amy.

“And me!” called Lurra Rus.

“Veranke, from one monarch to another,” said the Black Panther, “protests and speeches are the first step to change, but they’re damn big ones.”

“…Wakanda is doomed to failure if its king believes that,” scoffed Veranke. “Now, I’m going back to my shuttle, I’m going to expose Rutan treachery, and I’m going to make sure we never make the mistake of allying with the Kree or the Shi’ar!”

“Back to the shuttle and exposing Rutan treachery, I won’t interfere with,” replied the Doctor. “However…you DO know too much about the future, so…” The Doctor then pressed her pointer and ring fingers against Veranke’s forehead. Veranke gasped, then collapsed. “…That was desperate of me,” muttered the Doctor.

“What did you do?” asked Lurra Rus.

“I removed the bits about future events from her mind,” explained the Doctor. “Although, I went too hard and put her into mental shock. Non fatal and she won’t remember the Rutan having come from the 29^th century. But we need to put her and her aide’s body onto that shuttle.” She then scanned Veranke’s belongings. “Aha! Teleport recall!”

By the time Veranke’s shuttle left, bringing Veranke and her aide’s body back to the Skrull fleet, the Doctor was returning to the TARDIS. She saw Amy and Lurra Rus waiting by the door while William and Skarla were sitting on the couch. “…You aren’t coming?” the Doctor asked William.

“I still have work to do here,” replied William. “People to heal, protests to organize, speeches to make for a better future, a girlfriend to look after here,” he patted Skarla’s hand lovingly, prompting a giggle from the Super Skrull. “I’m swamped. Oh, Storm and the Black Panther have already departed for Wakanda. They wanted me to tell you ‘Good luck’.”

“…I wish the same for them and you, William, Skarla,” said the Doctor as she smiled.

“Doctor,” said Lurra Rus, “I’ve been hearing a lot about Mobius from Amy and I decided…I want to live there. In Amy’s time.” The Doctor smiled widely.

“She’ll be returning home the long way around,” she advised.

“Oh, I already told her,” replied Amy.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” asked the Doctor as she opened the TARDIS doors. She and her team then entered the box and shut the doors behind them. The TARDIS then flashed its lamp and its mighty, ancient engines made their familiar “VWORP VWORP” noise as it faded away.

“Goodbye, Doctor!” called William. “And good luck again!”

Chapter Text

California, the west coast’s state of weird, and the current source of Plumber activity. Founded by George Washington himself, the capital P Plumbers became intergalactic police officers. One of the most famous Plumbers was Max Tennyson, semi-retired these days as his grandson, Ben Tennyson, was continuing the work. Armed with a watch that can turn him into any alien, the Omnitrix, Ben made a name for himself as Ben 10! Right now, he and his ex-girlfriend, Julie Yamamoto, were in California, looking out to sea. “I still don’t know why we were called,” muttered Ben. “I was enjoying some Sumo Slammers!”

“Look, we get calls about the weird stuff from time to time,” replied Julie.

“Yeah, but tremors? I thought California gets that stuff all the time and the locals don’t bat an eye.”

“Not when the tremors aren’t from shifting tectonic plates,” interjected a woman’s voice. A Japanese woman approached them. “Mr. Tennyson, Ms. Yamamoto, I am Dr. Sato, Chief Scientific Advisor for UNIT’s Japanese branch.”

“UNIT? The Plumbers and UNIT aren’t exactly friends,” remarked Julie.

“No, but I felt the need to collaborate on this issue,” explained Dr. Sato. “We’ve recently detected a surge of chronons and something appeared in the Pacific Ocean. Believe it or not, our parent United Kingdom branch has dealt with temporal messes before, but we needed a more proactive approach. That’s where you Plumbers come in.”

“I guess that makes sense,” replied Ben, “but we don’t exactly cover things up like you UNIT guys do. We’re…anyone hear that?” A strange noise was filling the air.

“…I see the object making that noise!” called Dr. Sato. Ben and Julie turned to see the TARDIS materializing.

“I don’t believe it!” gasped Ben.

“…It says ‘Police Box’ on it,” remarked Julie.

“It’s not a police box!” replied Dr. Sato.

“You met her before?” asked Ben.

“Yes! During an incident on Monster Island! You?”

“I was fighting Sontarans inside a time loop!”

“If it’s not a police box, what is it?” asked Julie.

“It’s a TARDIS, Yamamoto-san!” replied Dr. Sato.

“More than that!” supplied Ben. “It’s THE TARDIS! The Doctor’s coming!” The TARDIS fully materialized and Ben and Dr. Sato rushed forward. The doors opened and Lurra Rus stepped out.

“Doctor, are you sure-?” asked Lurra Rus before she was tackled by Ben and Dr. Sato.

“EEP!” yelped Dr. Sato. She then bowed. “Gomenasai!” she apologized.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too!” agreed Ben. “I thought you were someone else!”

“Oddly, so did I,” replied Lurra Rus. “In fact, I AM someone else.”

“Tennyson-san and I could have sworn this was a TARDIS,” said Dr. Sato. “THE TARDIS. The only TARDIS we know about.”

“And we were kinda hoping the Doctor would be here,” admitted Ben lamely.

“Oh, she is!” replied Lurra Rus. “Are you friends of hers? She and our friend, Amy Rose, are inside.”

“No they’re not,” corrected the Doctor as she and Amy left the TARDIS. “They’re coming out.” The Doctor then clapped eyes on Ben and Dr. Sato. “Ben! Dr. Sato! How wonderful to see you two again!”

“…I’m afraid I haven’t the pleasure, Ma’am,” replied Dr. Sato.

“Ah, you met the Doctor with her old face, have you?” asked Amy.

“Amy! You’re here!” said Ben. “And…is that really the Doctor?”

“Yeah, she just regenerated. An unfortunate hazard in her life.”

“You scanned me and got Time Walker, remember?” asked the Doctor. “I’m surprised you, of all people, forgot about regeneration.”

“Holy crap, it IS you!” yelped Ben. He then turned to Julie. “Julie, this is the Doctor I was talking about. And that’s Amy Rose. …I just don’t know the Twi’lek.”

“I’m Lurra Rus,” replied Lurra Rus. “You’ll have to excuse our sudden arrival. We just followed the path to a chronal surge.”

“…Did you find out if anything came through that surge?” asked Dr. Sato.

“Ah, so that’s why you’re all here,” said the Doctor. “We’re tracking these surges as they have a tendency to bring time zones together. My friends on Gallifrey warned me that something from 1995 came here. There are multiple surges like this one, creating an event known as the Grouping.”

“So you’re trying to fix it?” asked Ben.

“That’s the plan,” replied the Doctor.

“Would you like help?” asked Dr. Sato.

“If you’re offering,” answered the Doctor. “Perhaps, along the way, we can fix your issues.”

“We’ve set up a base on Alcatraz Island,” said Dr. Sato.

“Ah, Al Capone’s old home,” remarked the Doctor. “Nice guy if you overlooked his crimes, especially his tax evasion.”

Team TARDIS was brought to the base on Alcatraz where the Plumbers and UNIT soldiers were working together. “So the chronal surge was first detected here and so were the tremors?” asked the Doctor.

“We had to set up this base nearest to the tremors,” replied Dr. Sato.

“Gives me more of a chance to get right into the fight!” cheered Ben as he punched his hand.

“You Plumbers really do love getting into it, don’t you?” muttered Dr. Sato.

“The Plumbers have been around longer than UNIT,” said the Doctor. “Now…” the place was starting to shake. “…are those the-?”

“Yes!” replied Dr. Sato.

“…There seems to be a rhythm to it,” remarked Lurra Rus. “Like some…beast.”

“I’d almost liken it to a frog,” said Amy. “And I had to fight some frogs, let me tell you.” A UNIT soldier then burst in.

“We need to evacuate! There’s a giant frog hopping to the island!” he said.

“Hang on, soldier,” said Ben, “does this frog have four red eyes and horns?”

“Yes, but how important is-?!”

“He’s STILL around?!” protested Ben. He then thought. “…Then again, supposedly, he has his head put into a jar and puts said jar onto a gorilla body in the future.

“You know how this frog came to be?” asked Dr. Sato.

“Yeah, one of my enemies, Dr. Animo,” explained Ben. “A mad scientist that mutates animals into his monster slaves to conquer the world.”

“What is it about mad scientists that causes them to look to mutating life-forms?!” snapped the Doctor. “Is he in correspondence with Davros?!”

“We’d better ask him some questions,” suggested Amy.

“Right,” replied the Doctor. The group then went outside to see an elephant-sized four-eyed frog with an old man riding it. He wore a brain case that had antennae and exposed his brain, wore red goggles, had pale-green skin, and wore a long lab coat.

“Attention, UNIT and Plumbers!” announced the old man, Dr. Animo. “Surrender San Francisco to me or be trampled by my newest acqui-!” he stopped when he saw Ben. “Oh, for-! Can’t you just let me take over the world in peace, Tennyson?!”

“Come on, Doc, you know that’s not how this works,” replied Ben. “You show up, threaten to take over the world with your mutant animals, I turn into an alien that beats you, you get carted off to prison, that’s the whole thing. It’s kind of boring, now that I think about it.”

“Then mix it up a little and stand down!” snarled Dr. Animo.

“I think I’d prefer it if Ben stuck to routine,” called the Doctor.

“And just who are you?!” demanded Dr. Animo.

“I’m the Doctor.”

“…Doctor who?”

“Just the Doctor. Look, surely Mr. and Mrs. Animo wouldn’t want you to-.”

“Oh, here we go, the ‘my parents would be spinning in their graves if they knew what I did’ angle. Listen, sweetheart, I obtained emancipation from them when I was 18! I would have gotten it earlier, but those two WERE geniuses when it came to law, hence them having taken jobs as lawyers when they were alive.”

“…Okay, I’m not sure who’s the bigger villain in THAT scenario,” mused the Doctor. “But look, with your knowledge on genetic experiments, you could cure cancer, give humans the ability to regrow lost limbs, maybe-!”

“Except I don’t WANT to cure cancer or give humans the ability to regrow lost limbs,” interrupted Dr. Animo, “I want to make mutant animal slaves to help me conquer the world!”

“…Single-minded, that’s what you are,” muttered the Doctor.

“I prefer the word ‘driven’!” replied Dr. Animo.

“Well, I’m driven too,” remarked Ben. “Driven to put you back in prison. Let’s see, when we first met, you were trying to bring back extinct animals like dinosaurs, right?”

“I was set to call America’s capital ‘Washington B.C’, yes,” confirmed Dr. Animo.

“Then let’s see how you handle a living dinosaur,” chuckled Ben.

“A living dinosaur?” asked the Doctor.

“You ever heard of a Vaxasaurian, Doctor?” asked Ben.

“Oh, you have Vaxasaurian DNA on that thing?” quizzed the Doctor. “Nice people. Bit fist-happy though.”

“Just need to take down the frog!” replied Ben. “Dr. Animo, it’s time for Humungousaur!” Ben slammed on the Omnitrix, he then bulked up…got an orange and black striped fur pattern, grew a claw on the back of each wrist, his face became more feline, and a green and black luchador outfit appeared over him. “HUMUNGOUSAUR!” shouted Ben in his new form. He then looked down. “Oh for-! I MEAN RATH!”

“That’s an Appoplexian, Ben, not a Vaxasaurian,” groaned the Doctor as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Rath got up close to the Doctor’s face, saliva spattering all over the Doctor’s face as he screamed.

“LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, DOCTOR, TIME LORD OF GALLIFREY! RATH ALREADY KNOWS THAT!” He then turned to Dr. Animo. “AND YOU! RATH IS STILL GONNA KICK YOUR FROG’S BUTT ALL THE WAY INTO THE SNOW!” Rath then leapt at the frog and wailed on it. The Doctor simply wiped the saliva off her face.

“…Lovely,” she grumbled.

Chapter Text

“Um, what was that?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“Ben was never THAT rude when he changed,” remarked Amy.

“You mean he changes into a new life-form frequently?”

“That’s thanks to the piece of Galvan technology on his wrist, the Omnitrix,” explained the Doctor. “And Appoplexians, Amy, are hard-wired for aggression and that aggression makes them a bit dim.”

As they talked, Rath was still punching the mutant frog. Dr. Animo had hopped off it and kept out of the way of the fight, seemingly unconcerned about the frog losing to Rath. Rath noticed this in his usual anger. “HEY! HEY! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT RATH’S BEATING UP YOUR FROG?!” he bellowed.

“And you presume that the frog is the only animal under my control?” asked Dr. Animo.

“Huh?” asked Rath. Then the ground shook again. This time, the tremors caught the Doctor’s attention.

“All right, what is it?” she asked. “Ants? Termites?”

“…Kaiju,” replied Dr. Animo with a wicked grin. Crystals then sprouted from the ground! “Specifically, a cosmic Kaiju from 1995!” Dr. Sato gasped as memories of her home of Fukuoka flooded her mind. She remembered three giants, two against one. One of the giants had crystals growing out of it and used the Fukuoka Tower as a power source!

“…S…Space…!” she whispered in terror.

“Dr. Sato?” asked the Doctor.

“…He’s back!” whimpered Dr. Sato.

“You lot have 24 hours to surrender San Francisco to me,” called Dr. Animo, “or my newest acquisition marches across the United States and destroys not only Washington D.C, but New York City as well!” He hopped back on his frog and made his escape.

“HEY! HEY!” called Rath. “RATH ISN’T DONE WITH YOU!”

“Ben, never mind him!” protested Amy. “We’ve got bigger problems!” Rath looked back to see Dr. Sato curling up in a ball. He then looked back at the escaping Dr. Animo…but his moral compass was still Ben’s. He slapped the Omnitrix symbol and returned to his true form as Ben and went to help Dr. Sato with Julie helping him.

“Come on, Dr. Sato,” he encouraged. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

“Safe?!” asked Dr. Sato. “Nowhere is safe now! Don’t you understand?! SPACEGODZILLA HAS RETURNED!”

“SpaceGodzilla?” asked Lurra Rus as she, Amy, and the Doctor were in a lab so the Doctor could study a fragment of the crystals that grew. “What manner of creature is that?”

“A clone,” replied the Doctor. “Specifically, the clone of the Kaiju that holds the title of King of the Monsters.”

“And what’s a Kaiju?” asked Amy.

“A giant animal that is fiercely intelligent and regards smaller life forms as we do with ants,” explained the Doctor. “This particular Kaiju is one of the most intelligent Kaiju around, with a head for strategy and tactics. He’s the result of the cells of the King of the Monsters somehow being mutated by radiation and space minerals and coming together to form his clone. The original King of the Monsters is called Godzilla by most of the world, his space clone is called SpaceGodzilla.”

“And, hopefully the last stupid question,” said Lurra Rus, “can Dr. Animo really control such a beast.”

“If you’re worried that it’s a stupid question, it’s generally not,” assured the Doctor. “Straight answer, not for any significant time. Kaiju brains CAN overcome mental control. The real question is how long Dr. Animo can control SpaceGodzilla.”

“And what kind of catastrophe would be unleashed when he inevitably loses control?” asked Amy.

“Questions none of us want answered. …I did some analysis of the crystals. It looks like the latent chronons surrounding them came from 1995.”

“So it was SpaceGodzilla that went through that chronal surge,” said Lurra Rus.

“But he was supposed to die in ’95,” continued the Doctor.

“…What year is this?” asked Amy.

“2025.”

“But if SpaceGodzilla fights the Godzilla of this time and dies-!” gulped Lurra Rus.

“It would exacerbate the Grouping,” confirmed the Doctor, “and unthread the Web of Time.”

“How do we get a giant monster to go back to its original time?” asked Amy.

“I don’t know,” replied the Doctor, hating that she had to say that.

“…Maybe…Maybe Ben can use Time Walker?” suggested Amy.

“It’s not as easy as that,” replied the Doctor. “Two Time Lords can’t put their heads together to fix this. We’d need the whole of Gallifrey at its height and Gallifrey isn’t there yet!” The Doctor’s eyes went wide. “…But that’s not the only time sensitive alien in the Omnitrix! He has Chronosapien DNA in that thing! And their temporal manipulation skills are on par with Gallifrey at its height! …But how to get a rampaging monster to stop or get another rampaging monster to not kill its rival? …Unless there’s a sufficiently titanic form in the Omnitrix. …I’ll need to speak with Ben on this one. Good thinking, Amy!” The Doctor headed off.

“…Don’t ask me why,” said Lurra Rus, “but seeing the Doctor come up with a plan way ahead of time somehow tickles my brain just right.”

“It does the same for me,” replied Amy. The two subconsciously held one another’s hand.

The Doctor found Ben waiting outside a room with Julie. “…How’s Dr. Sato?” she asked.

“She’s…well, SpaceGodzilla gave her PTSD, let’s put it that way,” said Julie.

“Then we need to get SpaceGodzilla back to his own time so she won’t see him again,” replied the Doctor.

“How do we do that?” asked Ben.

“With the help of your Chronosapien form,” answered the Doctor.

“Clockwork?” Ben then grinned. “Of course! He can track precisely when SpaceGodzilla came here and put him back in that exact time!”

“Exactly!” confirmed the Doctor.

“Then maybe Ben should be a little more careful with the Omnitrix during the inevitable fight,” chuckled Julie.

“Speaking of which, Ben, can you turn into something about 30 stories high?” asked the Doctor.

“Well, I DO have an alien called Way Big on this thing,” replied Ben.

“What kind of alien is Way Big?”

“…I sometimes have trouble with that.” Ben held the Omnitrix up to his mouth. “Omnitrix, remind me what race the transformation I call Way Big is called.”

“Transformation with the alias of Way Big,” replied a computerized version of Ben’s voice, “is the DNA sample of the To’kustar race.”

“To’kustar?” asked the Doctor. “That might actually be enough to stop SpaceGodzilla. I mean, it won’t kill him, but we need to send him back alive so he can face his proper death at the hands of Godzilla in that time.”

“I’m not naturally a killer anyways,” said Ben.

“And that’s good,” replied the Doctor, “but Godzilla is.”

“You think present-day Godzilla’s gonna be attracted by the fight?” asked Julie.

“I’m more surprised he’s not here al-.” The alarms then blared, interrupting the Doctor’s reply. “…I really hope he’s not-!”

“Alert! Alert!” called a soldier. “Godzilla has been sighted cruising to San Francisco Bay! Repeat, Godzilla has been sighted cruising to San Francisco Bay!”

“Rassilon’s bra!” grumbled the Doctor as she rubbed her eyes.

Over in his secret base, Dr. Animo’s alarms blared. He groaned as he got out of bed. “All I ask, once in a while, is a few paltry hours of uninterrupted sleep,” he grumbled. He checked his computer and saw the readings. “So soon?!” He smacked his face. “Perhaps I should have gotten him under control as well.” The tips of the antennae on Dr. Animo’s brain dome then glowed red. “SpaceGodzilla, your master commands you! Godzilla is coming! DESTROY HIM!” He then felt a pressure in his head, not enough to hurt him. Still, all readings said that SpaceGodzilla was on an intercept course.

Deep in the Pacific Ocean, a creature cruised through the water like a crocodile. It felt a presence it once felt when it was little. It was powerless back then, but not anymore. It was ready to take that presence on! It will not rest until its enemy was dead! Sharks swam out of the way as the creature swam through the water, its massive lizard head fixed with a look of purpose. Godzilla was ready to kill the space knock-off of his dad!

The Doctor was working on a machine that kept a crystal contained. “All right,” she said, “hopefully I can determine when in 1995 SpaceGodzilla was taken by the Grouping with this thing should Clockwork fail somehow.” She then pulled out a communicator. “Ben, this is the Doctor. Where are you right now?”

“Animo’s reappeared on the east side of the base,” replied Ben. “We’re all watching him now.”

“Keep me posted,” directed the Doctor. “Amy, Lurra Rus, how’s Dr. Sato?”

“Amy’s heading off to help with Ben,” replied Lurra Rus. “Julie’s with me right now. We managed to piece together why Dr. Sato is so scared of SpaceGodzilla. 30 years ago, when SpaceGodzilla first attacked-.” The earth shook and the Doctor saw a shadow fall over the entire island. She looked to the west…and saw him.

“…Very laudable, Lurra Rus,” said the Doctor, “but I’m afraid that may prove academic! SpaceGodzilla’s here to fight Godzilla!”

Chapter Text

Standing over Alcatraz Island was SpaceGodzilla himself! He was similar to Godzilla himself in terms of physical appearance, but he had a red chest and stomach area, crystals in the shape of oak-leaf spines running down his back, a massive crystal on each shoulder, shorter arms than Godzilla, two fangs on each side of his mouth, and eyes that burned with a beastly intelligence. “Lovely!” grumbled the Doctor. “And Godzilla’s only two minutes out!”

“It looks like I have a bit of a pest problem to deal with!” cackled Dr. Animo.

“Call off SpaceGodzilla now!” demanded the Doctor.

“You know what ‘fat chance’ means, I presume?” asked Dr. Animo.

“Dr. Animo, if you don’t call him off, he’ll break free from your control!”

“Impossible! My Transmodulator is currently set to mental control! SpaceGodzilla is nothing more than an oversized animal!”

“Kaiju are more than just oversized animals! They’re creatures with an intelligence we don’t give enough credit for! …Come to think of it, that’s all animals in general.”

“Pah!” scoffed Dr. Animo. “I’ve heard that kind of talk before and if that were true, animals would resist my mental control!” That was when something very large breached the water. That large something…was Godzilla himself. He was standing in a fashion that the hurriedly evacuated Golden Gate Bridge was all that was separating Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla. “Perfect! Now, SpaceGodzilla, fire your corona beam! DESTROY GODZILLA!” SpaceGodzilla…didn’t fire a corona beam! He raised his hand and the Golden Gate Bridge wrapped around Godzilla! “What?! That’s not what I said at all! Your CORONA BEAM! You know, your horn laser attack?!” SpaceGodzilla then made crystals grow until they were almost to his height. “This is intolerable! I ORDER YOU TO DESTROY GODZILLA AT ONCE, YOU STUPID SPACE LI-!” Dr. Animo doubled over, clutching his head in pain! The Doctor’s natural telepathic abilities picked up on SpaceGodzilla’s thoughts.

“I take no orders from you!” he was saying in Dr. Animo’s head. “You ants should be bowing to me, your TRUE God!”

“SpaceGodzilla, you need to stop!” urged the Doctor through her own mind. That attracted SpaceGodzilla’s attention. He looked around. “Down here! The woman in the skirt waving!” SpaceGodzilla looked down to see the Doctor. “Hello! I’m the Doctor, a frequent visitor to this planet!”

“I can see that,” replied SpaceGodzilla. “Your mind is not a human one. This does not concern you, Doctor. Be gone!”

“I can’t do that!” replied the Doctor. “You’re in the wrong time! You need to-!”

“I will not be going back to my death! I read what Dr. Animo remembers of this time’s history! This Godzilla is nothing more than the child I imprisoned all those years ago!”

“SpaceGodzilla, as a champion of life, I understand the desire to stay alive, but I’m also a champion of time and-!”

“I care not about time! I am space! I am gravity! I shall devour everything!”

“Devour-?” The Doctor’s eyes went wide. “…The Apocalypse Element!”

“You’ve encountered me before?” asked SpaceGodzilla.

“If you detonate those crystals, the whole universe will be set alight!” the Doctor insisted.

“As it should!”

“Great, the Daleks’ most destructive and unstable weapon, and it’s a Kaiju!”

“I’ve molded it to my own ends!” The Doctor was about to interject when she heard the sound of metal being bent. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got history to rewrite!” said SpaceGodzilla. He ended the mental call and stomped towards Godzilla as the King of the Monsters unwrapped the Golden Gate Bridge from his body. His spines then lit up and he fired, but SpaceGodzilla created a crystalline shield in front of him and deflected the attack. He then swung his tail into Godzilla’s face, clubbing him and making him stumble. Godzilla snarled and leapt at SpaceGodzilla, but SpaceGodzilla held the King of the Monsters with his telekinesis.

Everything was happening at once. UNIT soldiers and Plumbers were scrambling to form SOME kind of defense. The Doctor grabbed a Plumber. “Where’s Ben?!” she demanded.

“Over there, fiddling with his watch!” replied the Plumber. The Doctor followed the Plumber’s finger and found Ben surrounded by Julie, Amy, and Lurra Rus.

“Mr. Tennyson, now is NOT the time to be updating your…your Apple Book or whatever the hell you people use for social media on this planet in this time!” protested Lurra Rus.

“I’m not!” argued Ben. “My stupid watch isn’t working! Really gotta grill Azmuth for this!”

“What’s going on?” asked the Doctor.

“I’m trying to select Way Big,” replied Ben, “but the Omnitrix isn’t even activating the selection dial!”

“Now, of all times?!” The Doctor pulled Ben’s wrist to her so she could examine the Omnitrix.

“HEY!” protested Ben. The Doctor checked out the Omnitrix, then she blinked.

“…Ben, I don’t think you’ve updated your watch recently,” she said.

“What do you mean?” asked Ben.

“There’re frequent messages from the new Galvan Homeworld and the planet of Primus about new updates to the Omnitrix. I think you’d better install them.”

“Is now really a good time?!” argued Ben. “I gotta turn into Way Big right now!”

“If I’m reading this right, I think you’ll be turning into Way Big whenever you want.”

“Huh?”

“Just start installing the updates.” Ben grumbled, but complied.

“Updates accepted and installing,” reported the Omnitrix. “Omnitrix will shut down and restart.”

“Please make it quick,” grumbled Ben.

“Okay, so how do we deal with SpaceGodzilla while Ben’s out of action?” asked Amy.

“The only one who can tell us is Dr. Sato,” replied the Doctor. “What was her condition when you last saw her?”

“Catatonic,” said Lurra Rus. “The local doctors are trying to snap her out of it.”

“Blast, and I really need her.” The Doctor thought a bit. “…It’s a bit risky, but it might snap her out of it. Where is she?”

Dr. Sato was sitting in a bed, just staring blankly at the wall ahead of her. The Doctor entered the room with guards outside. “…Dr. Sato?” asked the Doctor. Dr. Sato didn’t respond. “…Right then. Really would prefer asking permission for this.” The Doctor then took off her gloves and placed her fingertips on Dr. Sato’s temples. She probed the poor woman’s mind…and saw a little girl running scared from SpaceGodzilla. The year was 1995. Crystals were everywhere. The noise of the fight was deafening. “…That doesn’t make sense. Where’s MOEGURA?” muttered the Doctor.

“…M…Mogura?” mumbled Dr. Sato. An image of a mole appeared in her mind.

“…No, not the animal,” replied the Doctor. “The mech.” That was when an image of a giant robot being piloted by humans appeared. The robot had a drill nose and drill hands and could split into a flying vehicle and a land vehicle. “Yes, that’s it! One of humanity’s achievements!”

“…W…We…helped…him,” said Dr. Sato. “…We were…ants in that fight…but we helped Godzilla…defeat his clone!” Dr. Sato became more aware. “That mech was my favorite as a child! It…It drove away the monsters in my closet!” She then looked up. “…Doctor, what ARE you doing-?” The shaking coming from the giant monster slug-fest snapped her back to reality. “Oh no, they’re fighting!” she realized.

“And Dr. Animo lost control of SpaceGodzilla,” explained the Doctor. “This is the same SpaceGodzilla that you saw fall in 1995, so if Godzilla kills him-!”

“There’s a way to weaken SpaceGodzilla, it’s just convincing someone Like Godzilla not to kill SpaceGodzilla that’s the issue,” interrupted Dr. Sato. “For now, I can easily tell you that the crystals on SpaceGodzilla’s shoulders are the key. Destroy them and he’s weakened. Now, if we can get any mech to be deployed before SpaceGodzilla decides that San Franscisco is a perfect coastal buffet-!”

“Ben has an alien that’s as big as a Kaiju,” replied the Doctor, “but the Omnitrix is updating.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Hey, even something as advanced as the Omnitrix or my TARDIS needs software and firmware updates! …Speaking of which, come on! …Unless-.”

“I’m all right now, Doctor,” assured Dr. Sato. “Come on!”

The Doctor and Dr. Sato rushed up to Ben and his group as they took cover. “Come on!” complained Ben as the Omnitrix’s holographic interface displayed that dreaded loading circle.

“Is it still updating?” asked the Doctor.

“I can’t even engage voice commands!” replied Ben.

“Voice commands reestablished,” droned the Omnitrix.

“Perfect!” cheered Julie.

“Omnitrix, what are you installing?!” demanded Ben.

“Current updates include vocal commands for transformations, elimination of recharge cycle, unlocking of all aliens in Primus’ codon stream, improved conversational language database-.”

“Hold on, hold on. Omnitrix, did the recent update unlock Master Control? Like what happened to the prototype against the Highbreed?”

“Confirmed. Updates now fully completed.”

“Hang on, how did I prove-?!” At that moment, a tiny, gray, frog-like creature with tendrils on his chin appeared.

“Took you long enough to install the Master Control updates!” he grumbled.

“Azmuth!” gasped the Doctor. Azmuth looked at the Doctor.

“You must be the Time Lord that Ben scanned,” remarked Azmuth.

“I am,” replied the Doctor. “I’m called the Doctor and it’s a pleasure to meet the smartest being in five galaxies!” The Doctor was about to fangirl even more, but the Kaiju fight interrupted her squeeing.

“We’ve got bigger problems on our hands!” replied Ben. “Time to test this out! Omnitrix, Way Big!”

Chapter Text

Godzilla stumbled as SpaceGodzilla fired his corona beam. It was bad enough when he had to fight other monsters, but a monster that could recover from wounds as quickly as him or could anticipate and counter his movements? That was just too much! …And now there was something glowing green on that little island! …Wait, was it growing to his size? The green light then formed a humanoid shape, then faded to reveal a red and white person with glowing green eyes and a large fin protruding from his head and forearms. “WAY BIG!” it announced. Godzilla got into a defensive stance. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” yelped Way Big. “Friendly! Friendly!” …This one wasn’t planning on fighting Godzilla. “Look, big guy, I don’t know if you fully understand, but we can’t kill the knock-off of you!” Godzilla snorted. No one tells him what to do! “Godzilla, please listen! He’s not supposed to die here in this time! This is the same SpaceGodzilla that was killed thirty years ago! He was plucked from that time and brought here! I can send him back so he can die in his proper time, but if you kill him now, there will be massive temporal consequences that I can’t begin to understand! Time will have no meaning! You will cease to exist if you kill him now!” Godzilla didn’t fully understand everything and was about to attack Way Big…then he took a sniff. …SpaceGodzilla’s scent should have been familiar, not exactly the same. …Way Big was right, this knock-off should have been dead already. He would have smelled resurrection on SpaceGodzilla. This…was the exact same one! Godzilla understood preserving history to an extent. He snorted, then assumed an aggressive stance, giving off a challenge roar to SpaceGodzilla. “…Gonna assume you understand, big guy,” said Way Big. He then faced SpaceGodzilla. “You heard the king! Round two, baby!” SpaceGodzilla roared in defiance!

“…I can’t help but see Ultraman in Ben right now,” remarked Dr. Sato as she saw Godzilla and Way Big charge at SpaceGodzilla.

“Ben’s heard the Ultraman jokes already,” replied Julie.

“The To’kustar race DID come before your Ultraman franchise,” said the Doctor.

“So what now?” asked Lurra Rus.

“You think Ben convinced Godzilla not to kill SpaceGodzilla?” quizzed Amy.

“I really hope so,” muttered the Doctor. The ground shook as the fight went on.

“I think the bigger question is can we avoid getting underfoot?!” yelped Dr. Sato.

“Ben seems to be keeping the fight contained in the bay,” remarked the Doctor. “I think we’d best take advantage of the hills San Francisco is built on.”

“We’d have to get there first!” protested Dr. Sato. “Look at the size of the waves!” The fight WAS causing massive waves to hit the shore, waves big enough to send boats and ships away from land.

“Damn!” grumbled the Doctor. Dr. Sato then looked up.

“…Ben’s not hitting the crystals on SpaceGodzilla’s shoulders!” she called.

“All right, I need a megaphone!” called the Doctor.

Back at the fight, Godzilla’s fire was deflected by SpaceGodzilla’s crystalline shield. The space monster had a wicked smirk as he lumbered towards Godzilla…then he felt something tug at his tail! He looked back to see Way Big holding onto his tail. “GOTCHA!” laughed Way Big. SpaceGodzilla snorted, then thrashed his tail. Way Big kept ahold of SpaceGodzilla’s tail, but he DID end up dunked underwater. He was forced to release the tail and come up for air. “Okay, that wasn’t my brightest idea!” spluttered Way Big.

“BEN!” called the Doctor’s voice over a megaphone. Way Big looked down to see the Doctor, her friends, and Julie waving. The Doctor then spoke into the megaphone. “THE SHOULDER CRYSTALS! DESTROY THE SHOULDER CRYSTALS!”

“The shoulder-?” Way Big looked to see that SpaceGodzilla was focusing on Godzilla now. Godzilla had remembered SpaceGodzilla’s weakness and was trying to destroy the shoulder crystals, but SpaceGodzilla’s crystalline shield was keeping him safe. …Way Big then noticed a flaw! “…Should have watched your back!” Way Big crossed his arms into an X formation and fired a stream of green energy at SpaceGodzilla’s right shoulder crystal. The crystal shattered and caused SpaceGodzilla to roar in pain, making him lose his concentration on his shield. Godzilla saw his chance and fired a Spiral Red Atomic burst at the remaining shoulder crystal. The crystal shattered and SpaceGodzilla was in immense pain. The King of the Monsters and Way Big then wailed on SpaceGodzilla. They focused on just knocking him out. Eventually, they backed off and SpaceGodzilla wobbled before collapsing in San Francisco Bay! His eyes were shut.

“YES!” cheered everyone else. Godzilla gave a roar of victory.

“Perfect! Now, with that out of the way-!” said Way Big. He then looked down at the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. “Omnitrix, Clockwork!” The green light then returned and surrounded him. He then shrunk down until he was a round creature made of brass clockwork with a green window on his chest showing off his internal mechanisms. He had a clock key on his round head and spoke with an exaggerated Swiss accent. “CLOCKWORK!” The key on his head then spun. “…Aha! So you came from that point in time. Well, history says you have to be there. …However, it DOES say you have to be in that condition the Grouping found you in.” Clockwork then fired a time ray from his chest. “Don’t worry, this will just send you back to the past with no memory of being in the future.” SpaceGodzilla then faded away in green light. “There we go! And so, the day is saved, thanks to Ben Te…wait a minute!” Clockwork then recalled that there was nothing but water under the fading SpaceGodzilla and he was pretty sure that would hurt a Chronosapien! “…Omnitrix, Ripjaws! Ripjaws! RIPJAWS!”

Back on Alcatraz, everyone saw a ball of fire where Clockwork was! “BEN!” called Julie. The ball of fire then dipped near the water when SpaceGodzilla fully returned to his time, then shot up and arced towards Alcatraz. “…Oh, no, wait,” realized Julie. The ball of fire landed near the group and dissipated to reveal a humanoid made of rocks and fire with the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Julie couldn’t resist. “HEATBLAST!” she shouted.

“…Is Azmuth still here?” asked Heatblast.

“Right here, Ben,” replied Azmuth as he hopped off the Doctor’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t you have turned into your Piscciss Volaan form? You know, that transformation you call Ripjaws?”

“That’s what I told the Omnitrix to turn me into!” snapped Heatblast.

“I think the DNA database in the Omnitrix needs a recheck,” remarked the Doctor. “That’s a Pyronite, not a Piscciss Volaan.”

“Yeah, well this stupid watch has a sense of humor!” retorted Heatblast. “I thought Master Control avoids that whole turning-me-into-the-wrong-alien thing! Azmuth, if you’re the smartest guy in nine galaxies-!”

“FIVE galaxies,” corrected the Doctor and Azmuth.

“And haven’t you humans developed voice command technology recently?” asked Azmuth. “A Chronosapien’s accent DOES impede things a bit when you’re panicked and the voice recognition software hasn’t been trained!”

“…Not to detract from the lesson Ben’s learning here,” said the Doctor, “but the Time Lords’ voice recognition software avoids that. Perhaps I can-?”

“No, thank you, Doctor,” replied Azmuth. “I’ll figure it out myself.”

As the group talked, Godzilla simply stomped off towards deeper waters and prepared to dive. What he didn’t know was that Dr. Animo was watching him. “That’s it, little Kaiju!” cackled the mad doctor. “Once my Transmodulator hits you, you’ll be under my direct-!”

“Hey!” called Amy’s voice. Dr. Animo turned to see her standing there with her hands on her hips while Lurra Rus stood behind her.

“No,” said Lurra Rus as she held up a component Dr. Animo recognized. It was the power transfer circuit for his Transmodulator.

“…Ladies, you two are no fun!” grumbled Dr. Animo as he held his hands up in surrender.

Everyone returned to the mainland as Godzilla went under the water and cruised back to Monster Island. Dr. Animo was put into a prison transport truck, muttering about stupid sapient hedgehogs. The Doctor checked some readings on her sonic screwdriver and smiled. “That’s two chronal surges dealt with,” she said. “And this one was far more satisfactory than the previous!”

“So where are we off to now?” asked Amy as she, the Doctor, and Lurra Rus headed back to the TARDIS.

“Still figuring that out,” replied the Doctor.

“Doctor, you’re not leaving, surely!” protested Dr. Sato as she and Ben approached her. “There’s still so much to clean up!”

“And I’m sure UNIT and the Plumbers can do it splendidly,” answered the Doctor. “But the chronal surge that brought SpaceGodzilla to this time isn’t the only one. We need to mitigate this before other races take advantage of the Grouping.”

“…Well, if you’re sure,” sighed Dr. Sato.

“Oh, Ben, could Azmuth keep an eye on the Grouping?” asked the Doctor.

“Not really much he can do,” replied Ben. “He’s more interested in genetics, not temporal mechanics.”

“True, true,” agreed the Doctor. “Well, must dash.” She and her friends entered the TARDIS and it dematerialized, ready to get to the next chronal surge.