Chapter Text
Part One
BOOM! The entire TARDIS lurched violently.
Cici was knocked right off her feet, landing directly on her butt. “Damn!” she groaned, wondering what it was that the ship had hit.
The cloister bell sounded.
“Not good,” she muttered.
She quickly got back to her feet and rushed to the console.
Readings indicated that the TARDIS had hit some sort of temporal wave inside the Infinite DC.
“A temporal wave?” Cici thought aloud, frowning.
She wasn’t sure why she was even talking—no one else was on the ship but her. It hadn’t been that long since she’d bid farewell to Mordecai, Rigby, and Benson—the first companions she’d made during her current regeneration. Now, she was all alone…not exactly something she wanted to dwell on that often. Right now, she wanted to focus on whatever this ‘temporal wave’ came from.
She circled the console, working the controls.
And then—
Bump!
“Oops! Sorry.” Her voice was in perfect sync with whoever it was that she bumped into, as they had said the same thing.
It only occurred to her after a second that there was another person in the console room—a tall Scandinavian-looking woman with long blond hair and a toned physique. She was looking right back at Cici with eyes that were as bright blue as hers.
“Who the hell are you?!” Cici asked the intruder.
“Oof. I forgot how scary I looked with that frown.”
“What?!”
“And how busty I was, too! Thomas’s shirt was not designed for breasts that big!”
The longer this blonde intruder stood there commenting on Cici, the more irritated Cici became. “Look,” she said with a modicum of composure. “I don’t know who you are or how you got into my TARDIS…”
“Your TARDIS.”
“Yes, my TARDIS.”
“Our TARDIS.”
“Our—WHAT?! No!”
The blonde nodded, grinning. “Yes.”
It was then that Cici looked at her—really looked at her.
The hoodie. Slight modification—but it was definitely the same.
The jeans. More faded—but they were definitely the same.
And that sweet floral scent. It was the same as hers.
Sure enough, Cici was staring right at the face of a future Gladiator. “Which one are you?” she asked her.
“The one that’s after you,” the blonde said. “We call this one ‘Kara’.”
Cici frowned. “We’ve already been ‘Cara’.”
“Yeah, but this one’s with a ‘K’.”
“I see. So, we apparently lack originality in this regeneration.” She gestured up and down at Kara.
Now Kara was the offended one. “Hmph! I forgot how much of a stickler you were. You know I could’ve gone to any of the others before you, but I have a specific reason for picking you.”
“Oh, yeah? And what reason is that?”
Kara suddenly reached into the right pocket of her hoodie. She took out two lanyards, handing one to Cici.
Cici frowned as she accepted it.
There was an orange logo printed on it that looked deliberately bureaucratic, severe, and slightly retro-futuristic—like the branding of a 1960s government agency that somehow administered all of existence. The main word mark consisted of the large block letters ‘TVA.’ The ‘T’ was tall, heavy, and rigid, while the ‘V’ and ‘A’ were constructed from sharp geometric shapes that overlapped and intersected, giving the center of the logo an almost hourglass-like quality.
“The Time Variance Authority?” Cici knew the organization well. “And you call me a ‘stickler’!”
“They’re different now.”
“Oh, really? The lunatics who are obsessed with preserving one reality while all the others get the shaft are ‘different’ now. How?”
“Loki.”
“What about him?”
“A variant of him changed everything there. After he destroyed the Temporal Loom and allowed the multiverse to flourish, the TVA now monitors the other timelines instead of pruning them.”
Hearing all of this, Cici gave a passive shrug of approval. “Well…that is an improvement.” She glanced at the lanyard again, seeing how it had ‘Visitor’ printed beneath the logo. Kara’s was the same, and she put it on. “So, I assume I’m your plus one on this visit to the TVA.”
“Mm-hmm,” Kara nodded.
“Why?”
Kara frowned at her. “You mean…you didn’t see the distress beacon?”
“No, I was too busy with my six-foot future self to notice any distress beacon.” Cici turned back to the console.
Sure enough, one of the indicators—colored in red—was blinking.
It was rather jarring for Kara to bring her preceding regeneration along on a visit to the Time Variance Authority headquarters. From Cici’s perspective, it was her first visit; whereas Kara had stopped by previously, having been summoned for the Doctor’s trial during the ‘Infinity War’ incident.
The TVA had looked strange on Kara’s first visit.
This time, it looked more vibrant, as if the place had received a recent renovation.
From one of the rows of desks, an alarm gave one lonely electronic chirp every few seconds, as though even it had grown tired of panicking. Kara leaned over the nearest control station, studying its flickering display.
Cici stood beside her with her arms folded, taking in the impossible architecture with considerably less patience. “So, this is the place that sent the distress beacon?”
“Unless somebody else has a giant bureaucracy outside of time.”
Cici glanced around. “Give it a century.”
Kara opened her mouth to answer when a pair of hurried footsteps—heavy, slightly uneven, and accompanied by the rustle of a badly fitted suit—approached from behind them.
“Aha! Visitors!”
Kara froze, then she slowly smiled.
Bobo the Bear emerged from behind a support column wearing his charcoal TVA suit, red striped tie, and a little badge that displayed his name along with ‘TVA Guide.’ He had evidently attempted to look authoritative for the occasion.
Hovering brightly over his shoulder was Miss Minutes—a sentient artificial intelligence construct in the form of an animated clock with a country accent, acting as the TVA’s mascot.
“Well, hey there!” Bobo said, throwing up one paw. “Welcome to the Time Variance Authority! Where we keep time orderly, history organized, and, uh…” He retrieved a pamphlet that had been concealed inside his suit jacket. He looked down at the pamphlet and read, “…please do not touch the temporal spaghetti.”
Miss Minutes leaned toward him. “That’s not in the pamphlet.”
Bobo looked at the paper again. “Oh. That’s somebody’s lunch order.”
Kara laughed immediately.
Bobo’s fuzzy ears perked. “Wait a minute.” He squinted at her. “Kara?”
Kara gave a little wave. “Hiya, Bobo.”
“Well, I’ll be!” The bear’s face lit up with genuine delight. He lumbered forward and offered both arms as though he were considering a hug, and then apparently remembered he was supposed to be conducting official TVA business and awkwardly converted the movement into a professional-looking hand gesture. “You came back! I knew you would. Well, I didn’t know-know. Nobody tells me anything around here. But I had a feeling!”
Miss Minutes floated forward importantly. “Now, before we proceed, I’d like to formally welcome y’all on behalf of the—”
“Bobo, this is Cici.” Kara gestured to her predecessor.
Bobo extended a paw. “Well, hello there, Cici. Bobo the Bear. TVA guide. Sometimes security. Sometimes reception. Yesterday they had me helping in records.” His expression darkened. “I, uh…I don’t wanna talk about records.”
Cici stared at him.
Bobo slowly withdrew his paw. “…Okay.”
Kara noticed the look on Cici’s face.
It wasn’t suspicion. It wasn’t confusion.
It was something far more dangerous.
Cici’s eyes had widened. “Oh, my God.”
Bobo blinked. “What?”
Kara turned toward her, instantly understanding. “I know.”
Bobo looked between them. “Know what?”
Cici stepped closer and almost squealed, “He’s so cute.”
Kara clasped both hands together. “Isn’t he?!”
Bobo’s mouth fell slightly open.
Miss Minutes gasped delightedly and floated between them. “Well, ain’t y’all sweet for that. But, FYI, I’m not a ‘he,’ but I do try to maintain a certain timeless appeal—”
Cici didn’t even look at her. “Not you!”
Miss Minutes stopped dead in midair.
Cici pointed directly at Bobo. “We’re talkin’ ‘bout the bear.”
Miss Minutes’ smile remained fixed. Her eyelid twitched. “Oh.”
Kara was already fussing over Bobo’s suit collar. “Look at his lil’ tie!”
“Hey, hey, careful with the tie,” Bobo said, although he was visibly pleased. “This is official government clothing.”
Cici stared at his badge. “And the tiny name tag.”
Bobo puffed out his chest. “That’s so people know who I am.”
“I would die for him.”
Bobo’s expression abruptly became concerned. “Oh, please don’t.”
Kara giggled. “That’s just something people say.”
Cici crouched slightly so she could get a better look at Bobo. “You’re like a giant teddy bear who works for an interdimensional DMV.”
Bobo considered this. “…I don’t know what half of that means, but I think I like it.”
Behind him, Miss Minutes folded her tiny cartoon arms. “For the record, I am an internationally recognized symbol of the Time Variance Authority.”
Cici finally looked at her, albeit flatly. “Congratulations.” She immediately turned back to Bobo. “So, Bobo, how long have you worked here?”
Miss Minutes’ eyes narrowed. She then whipped herself out of sight.
Kara noticed; she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Bobo, completely oblivious to the feud over his adorability, straightened his jacket. “Well, uh, that’s complicated. Time doesn’t really work normally here. Could’ve been five years. Could’ve been five hundred.” He paused. “Feels like Tuesday.”
That got another laugh out of Kara.
Bobo glanced over his shoulder and jolted in surprise. “Hey, where did Minutes go?”
“Never mind her,” Cici insisted. “Show us around the place, cutie.”
Underneath all the fur, Bobo was blushing. “Cutie, eh? Well, follow me. I’ll show ya where we keep all the pies.”
“Actually, Bobo, we wanna speak to Hunter B-15,” Kara requested.
Bobo stiffened. “The Judge?”
Kara’s eyebrows rose slightly. “She’s a judge now. Wow. A lot has changed around here.”
“Why do you wanna see the Judge?”
“It’s about a distress beacon sent to my TARDIS from your HQ.” Cici gestured specifically to the control station where the electronic chirp still sounded as the indicator flickered. “Exactly right here.”
“Whose station does this belong to, Bobo?” Kara asked. “I don’t see any nameplates on it.”
Bobo swallowed hard.
Cici and Kara noticed how nervous the bear was becoming.
“What’s going on, sweetie?” Cici asked him.
Tugging at his suit collar, Bobo leaned in close to them and whispered, “Judge B-15 may be in charge, but we’ve got a new overseer.”
“Overseer?” Kara frowned. “Since when has the TVA gotten an overseer?”
“Since we took out all of the variants of He Who Remains,” Bobo said. “She just showed up one day and immediately started taking over.”
“B-15 didn’t put up any resistance?” Kara said.
Bobo shook his head. “Not after the overseer showed proof that the multiverse is in danger.”
“Is it?” Cici asked.
“Well, uh, recently some weird entity nearly pruned every universe,” Bobo said. “Luckily, these two guys stopped it. They’re the ones who sent you the distress signal…but, uh, you didn’t hear that from me.”
Cici and Kara exchanged cautious frowns.
“Bobo, can you take us to these two guys?” Kara requested.
Bobo grew nervous again.
Cici noticed, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey. Whoever this ‘overseer’ is, we won’t let her get to you.”
Bobo seemed more relaxed after that reassurance.
He proceeded to lead Cici and Kara through the halls of the agency…
…knowing that every step was being watched via security cameras…
…by the Overseer.
