MidMorph (Animorphs/Doctor Who fanfic)

[poparena]

Now, I'm a fiction writer on the side, but fan fiction is not my thing, really. However, I've hit a bit of a writer's block in that department and decided to flex my skills with a proper, epic Animorphs/Doctor Who crossover. Hey, they're my two favorite things ever, so if this doesn't get the creative juices, nothing will. The Doctor Who portion will mostly be New Who, but there will a few Classic Who plot threads as well. This will be updated way-way-way sporadically.

---

MidMorph
or
The Fork in the Road of Fate

Chapter One: Goodbye

Even before the bipeds, the quadruped and the feathered one arrived, Tranquil could feel the fragility of the canyon walls, of the earth under his legs, of the sky that provided rain for their crops. Even in their settled society, when the days were full of fruitful labor and the nights filled with happy songs, the rest of the colony believed Tranquil to be a higher level of bliss than anyone else. He would often spend his free time resting among the rocks, giving off a low-frequency hum that usually associated with meditation. Tranquil himself never thought of himself as blissful, merely observant, and his meditations were anything but blissful.

When Tranquil slipped into meditation, he could feel what the Mercora called the strings of existence. The strings were supposed to be strong and unwavering, but Tranquil was sure he could feel the faintest of vibrations in those strings, a microscope wobble in the metaphorical bonds that held all of creation together, hail Divine. When he knew no one was observing him, he tried to match the pitch of his hum to the vibration of the strings. For Tranquil, all of this meant one thing: the strings were weakening, and were bound to snap in due time. When that happened, all of creation would collapse in a heap.

It was because of this that Tranquil was almost glad when the rest of the colony announced that the comet that had lit up the sky these past weeks had been diverted by the Nesk, and that the strangers, whom the Mercora had sheltered and fed and helped in breaking into the Nesk compound, had betrayed them, the Nesk missile sabotaged. The Mercora's fate was sealed, their colony would be destroyed, and the last of their species would cease to exist. At least we die before reality does, Tranquil thought to himself.

They had only a few more hours to live. The buildings were abandoned, the entirety of the colony lay out in the fields, humming a song of mourning. Not just for themselves, but for all the magnificent creatures that walked this land, the mighty beasts who grazed the fields and trees, and the mighty beasts who grazed upon the grazers. The sky above the colony was full of screeching beasts, wheeling around the canyon on their leathery wings. Tranquil was alone. As he climbed the ascent to the observatory, his mind was filled with the old stories of the Mercora home planet and its fate, being pulverized into atoms by a black hole. Divine be praised, the Mercora survived, but just barely. Tranquil had been born on this planet, and saw the old home as a fantasy land, a world of endless color and ecstasy. Surely, it couldn't have been good as all that. Though, if it had been, Tranquil was glad it too died before the death of reality.

Sitting on top of the observatory was the Mercora's only telescope, a complex series of tubes, lenses and prisms to allow a clear image to Tranquil's almost countless eyes. How many eyes did he have? He never bothered to count. He knew his sister had twenty-three, two more than his mother, but he never bothered to count his own. Too late for that now. Tranquil peered through the telescope, aiming his with his heavy hand and adjusting the delicate instruments with his light hand, until he centered the image on the comet. Only it wasn't a comet, it was a spaceship.

Tranquil blinked every single one of his eyes in surprise, but when he opened them again, the image was that of the comet. His mind must have been in shock from the day's events, he must be seeing things. He blinked again. The image was that of the spaceship. Again. The comet. Again. The spaceship. Tranquil began to blink at a rapid fire rate, and the image blurred into a combination of the two.

Oh my Divine, Tranquil thought to himself, it's happened. Reality has begun to snap. It's racing the comet to our final destruction.

---

Adric was punching in calculations into the ship's computer as fast as he could, but the image of Earth on the view screen was getting larger every second. The Doctor had successfully transported the freighter billions of years into the past. It made more since to have it crash into Earth in 65,500,000 BC than in the 26th century, best to the kill the dinosaurs instead of the humans, Adric figured. Still, Adric was certain he could deactivate the Cybermen's control device, certain he could stop the freighter from crashing all together.

"I must do it," Adric said to himself. As far as he knew, he was alone on the freighter, the Doctor was already back in the TARDIS with Nyssa and Tegan, Briggs and his crew safe in the escape pods. Just a few more codes. I've almost got it. Just a few more.

---

"Scott to TARDIS. Scott to TARDIS. Come in, please." Nyssa snatched up the communicator while the Doctor fell to the side, the Cyber-Leader tossing away the Doctor like he was paper.

"This is the TARDIS! We have Cybermen on board!" That was all Nyssa could get out before the Cyber-Leader snatched the communicator out of her hand.

"We managed to escape from the freighter, but Adric is still on board." That was the last thing to come out of the communicator before the Cyber-Leader crushed it in its hand like a tin can. The Doctor had gotten up by now. He quickly checked his pockets for something useful. There was always something useful, but more than ever the Doctor wished his sonic screwdriver hadn't been destroyed. Instead, the Doctor found Adric's gold-plated Mathematics Achievement badge. Such a tacky thing, really, but just the Doctor needed. He quickly hid it behind his back.

"You failed, Leader," the Doctor taunted. The Cyber-Leader turned to face him, tossing the crushed communicator to the ground, its grip tightening around its weapon.

"BUT YOU WILL NOT ENJOY THE VICTORY," the Cyber-Leader said in the voice that sounded like some yelling from the far end of a tunnel. "I SHALL NOW KILL YOU, DOCTOR." With that, it raised its gun directly into the Doctor's face. As if on cue, Tegan rushed the Cyber-Leader from behind, placing her hand over the metal beast's chest unit, its means of breathing. Struggling for breath, the Cyber-Leader tossed Tegan aside, giving the Doctor the chance to spring forward and start breaking the badge apart against the chest unit. The Doctor knew that the gold was catching on the Cyberman's vents, asphyxiating it. After the badge had crumbled to nothing, the Doctor let go.

"Get down!" he cried, and the three of them dived behind the TARDIS console as the Cyber-Leader, maddened and desperate for air, began to fire his weapon wildly. a blast stricking the TARDIS's controls, sparks flying everywhere. In a flash, the Doctor crawled around the TARDIS console and dived for the Cyber-Leader, grabbing its weapon out of its hands. In a display of violence that neither Tegan or Nyssa had seen from the him before, the Doctor aimed the gun point blank into the Cyber-Leader's chest, firing eight times in a row. The Cyber-Leader let out an inhuman scream and slowly collapsed to the floor, his systems sparking. The Cyber-Leader was dead.

---

Tranquil rushed down from the observatory. He didn't know what to do. He felt as though he should warn the colony, but what was the use? They were all ready to die by the comet, would things really change if he convinced them they would cease to exist in just a few minutes? One way or the other, he wanted to be with his family when the end, whatever that end might be, came. However, just before he exited the building, the song of mourning that had filled the canyon stopped, replaced with a mixture of screams and cries.

Tranquil leaped outside, and was stunned by the sight of it. Standing high above the crops, bigger than any of the buildings in the colony, stood a being beauty and terror. It shared the shape of a Mercora, but was made of pure colored crystal, the entire spectrum shifting within in it, reinventing itself, creating whole new colors that had never been experienced before. It gave off a radiant glow that rivaled the sun.

It was Divine, Tranquil realized.

NO I AM NOT YOUR DEITY THOUGH I BARE SIMILAR QUALITIES.

It was as though something was speaking to him, speaking to all of them, not by sound, not by thought-speak, but by the very language of the soul. Tranquil's seven legs quivered, his insides knotted up.

DO NOT BE AFRAID. I HAVE COME WITH AN OFFER.

Every Mercora stared up at the magnificent, horrible creature. It was only Tranquil that could not bare to look. It didn't matter, even the gods couldn't survive reality's destruction.

I GIVE YOU AN OFFER. YOU MAY STAY HERE AND DIE, OR YOU MAY BE TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER WORLD. A SAFE WORLD.

That was when Tranquil saw the smaller creature, a lump of dark flesh standing behind on the creature's crystal legs. If Tranquil had to guess, the smaller creature was quietly laughing.

THERE ARE NO CONDITIONS, YOU OWE ME NOTHING. I DO THIS BECAUSE THE MERCORA ARE PURE AND I DO NOT WISH TO SEE THEM DESTROYED.

Nobody said anything. They didn't have to, they were communicating by the soul to this creature and it had done to them. Tranquil knew they were all agreeing to this deal. Who wouldn't. Tranquil would have as well, if he believed it mattered.

SO IT IS DECIDED.

And with a flash of light, the two creatures and the entire colony vanished. All except Tranquil, who stood alone in the empty canyon. Alone. Oh Divine, he couldn't take that. His legs gave way underneath him. He could feel it, it was starting. The strings of reality were snapping. The canyon walls were bubbling into steam, the steam bubbling into energy, the energy bubbling into thought, and the thoughts evaporating into nothing. Tranquil could feel his body sink into the ground as the world around him became a quantum chemical reaction. He could feel his own body split apart, become atomized, cease to exist.

Well, at least he was right.

---

What Adric had failed to notice was the injured Cyberman slowly approaching him from behind. "There's something missing," Adric said to himself, gnawing his thumb in frustration. "Something I've forgotten... Of course, that's it!" He went back to the keyboard, punching in more calculations. By that time, the Cyberman had aimed its weapon. Its systems were too damaged for accurate aim, so instead of hitting Adric, it hit the console instead, causing the keyboard to explode with fireworks.

Adric jumped back and turned to face the Cyberman, but its systems were used it. It gave a final death rattle and fell to the floor. Adric turned towards the console, now a useless heap of smoking metal and plastic. Earth filled the viewscreen, the freighter was only a few seconds away from the atmosphere.

"Now I'll never know if I was right." The frieghter exploded around him.

---

The console was too damaged, the Doctor couldn't get its dematerialization running in time. Helpless, the three of them stared blankly at the scanner, watching as the freighter crashed into Earth with a magnificent explosion. The scanner went white. Nyssa buried her face into Tegan's shoulder, but Tegan was already turning around to face the Doctor. His face was slack, his eyes were empty.

"Adric?" Tegan pleaded. The Doctor gave no response. "Doctor!" Again, no response. When she realized, it was Tegan's turn to turn and bury her face into Nyssa's shoulder. All the Doctor could do was look upon the crumbled remains of Adric's badge.

COMING NEXT
CHAPTER TWO: ACHES ON A TRAIN

[NateSean]

Third attempt to review.

Loved the bit with the Mercora and seeing their point of view from being betrayed to their final destruction.

I've only seen Adric's death in a Youtube clip, but your description of the events answered one or two questions, so I thank you for that. I'm not one hundred percent familiar with the entire Doctor Who series and I haven't seen any of the Fifth Doctor's episodes in their entierty. (Unless you count the Children in Need bit with Davison and Tenant an episode that is)

[poparena]

Chapter Two: Aches on a Train

Captain Borgman felt that the biggest disadvantage to have a train-shaped spacecraft was that you couldn't blow the whistle. Oh, you could make a computer-generated whistle sound over the PA system, but that wasn't the same. Borgman had read about the classic Earth trains, about their chugging and their smokestacks and their whistles. Trains of old demanded you noticed their presence. None of that existed in the vacuum of space. The Orient Express XXY35 Minor cruised between the planets of the Whisnel system in complete silence.

Externally, the Orient Express looked exactly like a passanger train from the late 19th century, just four times bigger in scale. Each passanger car had three stories. The first two floors were decorated in classic 19th century fashion, with bright bronze and ivory color schemes, leopard-skin chairs and white silky drapes over the windows, replica gas lanterns giving off a golden glow. It was all designed as a fantastical getaway from the sterile life of space faring species, be they humanoid seeking their roots and nonhumanoids who wanted a good laugh at the expense of Earth history. The third floor was a more traditional space lounge, silver and blue and sterile. An escape from the escape, and the only part of the Orient Express with smoking zones.

The spacecraft had ten segments, five for passenger quarters, a dining segment, one for games and entertainment, a conference room to host the odd business meeting, a caboose for the baggage and staff quarters, and the engine, a classic matter/antimatter reactor. Not especially fast in space travel terms, but it had the distinct advantage of causing the rest of the Orient Express to faintly vibrate and shift, giving the impression that they were on real physical train tracks. Most of the distance was actually covered by Z-Space leap gates, itself an antique technology salvaged from old Andalite science files, but it got the job done. Borgman studied the readings on his screen. Twenty-seven minutes to the next leap gate, then across the ICW Corporate Nebula, then another leap gate, then their final destination at the Des Wagon-Lites space station. All running on schedule.

"Captain, the representative of Casmanopia is complaining that her luggage has been tampered with," one of conductors said over the private intercom. "Says something's been let loose on the ship."

Bloody hell.

"Damn stupid bureaucrats," the Captain grumbled to himself. The rules clearly said no pets on the Orient Express, but the royalty always thought they were above that.

"She says its gotten into the ventilation system, Captain."

"What has? What is it, exactly?"

"One moment... She says it's the Egyptian goddess Sakhmait."

---

The TARDIS had materialized in more dignified places, but at least the nanobots kept the extra-large handicap bathroom stall clean. The door to the police box opened, and the Doctor stuck his head out and smiled.

"Ah! Ammonia! Come on, Ponds!" The Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS into the bathroom proper, stopping at the mirror of check his reflection. The recently married Amy Pond and Rory Williams followed. The three of them were still dressed up, the Doctor wearing a flashy tuxedo that did Rory's more casual suit shame. Amy tried desperately to keep her wedding dress from dragging on the floor.

"Really, Doctor?" Amy said, a bit frustrated. She was used to stepping out those doors to somewhere amazing. This was a bathroom.

"Had to park somewhere out the way," the Doctor replied, adjusting his bowtie. "If we're really dealing with Sakhmait, which is impossible, mind you, then I don't want her grubby mits getting on my TARDIS."

"You said on the phone about an Egyptian goddess," Rory said. "Is that for real?"

"Not really, Sakhmait was an alien consciousness who conquered Egypt and forced its people to worship her, tried to create an army to invade the rest of the world. Well, I put an end to that." At that moment, two women entered the bathroom, screamed and made a hasty retreat.

"Doctor, I think we're in the ladies room," Rory said with a bit of deadpan.

"You humans and your modesty. All right, let's go." And so the Doctor led his two companions into the ship proper. To Amy, the Orient Express seemed like something straight out of a movie, people dressed in antique fashions sitting at tables, casually conversing as they ate fish, a giant ringed planet framed in the giant windows along the wall. At least they were dressed for the occasion, most everyone was as fancifully dressed as they were.

"Wow," Amy said. "We're in a train. In space."

"The Orient Express XXY35 Minor," the Doctor explained, dramatically waving his hand across the scene. "Of course, the orient doesn't exist in the 34th century, but Agatha Christie is still popular, so why not?"

"So, what next?"

"We need to find Princess Maiwos of Casmanopia, she's the one who called me. She'll probably be in the conference area, which is..." The Doctor put a finger in his mouth and stuck it into the air, as if the test the wind, finally pointing to the right. "That way." The trio headed across the dining area and passed through the door at the far end. This led them into a large hallway with doors along the right side. The Doctor counted doors as they passed them, finally opening the seventh, which took them into what looked like a small ****tail lounge. The room was packed, mostly with aliens of all shapes and sizes. A small group of men in blue conductor uniforms were trying to keep things under control. One of them approached the Doctor, who instinctively reached into his inner coat pocket.

"I'm sorry, sir," the conductor said, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." In response, the Doctor pulled out his psychic paper.

"Space marshal John Smith. These are my deputies Amy and Rory Pond."

"Williams," Rory corrected.

"Williams, yes. What seems to be the problem here?"

The conductor looked over at all the excited, chattering aliens.

"Someone brought a creature on the ship that's now loose in the ventilation system. We're trying to keep it from getting out to the rest of the passengers."

"Quite right, don't want to start a panic. I'll take over from here." The Doctor walked towards the crowd. Amy and Rory had seen some strange aliens in their journey, but these seemed to take the cake, all shapes and sizes and colors seemed to be represented. The one that really stood out was the giant blue blob in the back, a ten foot ball of fat with a huge mouth and a hundred eyes. This was the one the Doctor approached.

"Ah, Princess Maiwos, looking as radiant as ever!" The Doctor gave a small bow. "What seems to be the problem." Amy expected the Princess' voice to be deep and grumbly, but it turned out to be oddly soft and feminine.

"Doctor, thank goodness you've come! Sakhmait is loose!"

"That's impossible, I saw her sealed into the Seventh Obelisk, I was part of the prayer ceremony."

"Look for yourself." With that, the Princess shifted to one side, revealing a eight-foot tall metal pyramid, hieroglyphs running along the sides. There was a large hole in one side, like something had burst out of it. The Doctor quickly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and begin prodding it.

"What is this, exactly?" Amy asked.

"The Seventh Obelisk is an ancient type of Time Lord prison, I happened to have one in my storage bin when I ran into Sakhmait. Escape is impossible, the only way to open is with four keys, and the keys were destroyed."

"Well, can't locks be picked?" Rory asked.

"Not this kind. The first key is the hand of the Pharaoh Osiris, which he promptly amputated and threw in a fire. The second was the egg of a dodo, which is now extinct. The third key is a star particle from the Naso system, which has since gone supernova. Finally, there's my voice pattern, and my voice has changed a few times since then."

"So it's impossible to break in or out of?" asked Amy.

"Yes."

"So how do you account for this?"

"Easy. It's not the real Seventh Obelisk. Your highness, this here is a fake."

[Darth Zakryn]

Aside from the Mercora, this seems more Doctor Who oriented, which I admit I haven't seen, than the Animorphs. Are they ever going to appear soon? Or the Yeerks?

[poparena]

Yes, the story starts very Doctor Who heavy. The Animorph stuff will show up soon.

[RAFrukh]

Hey Darth, it's only been two posts. I'm sure Pop'll put them in soon enough ;P

[Darth Zakryn]

I know, but I was just wondering.

[Mewmorpher]

I'm really liking this so far!

[poparena]

Captain Borgman double-checked his star charts. Just shy of fifteen minutes to the next Z-Space leap gate. Hopefully, whatever Princess Maiwos had smuggled onto his spacecraft didn't cause any damage before then. Just what was her game, pretending it was some ancient Earth deity? Well, this was the second to last Z-Space leap gate, which meant the Orient Express was due for its biofilter scan to filter out any unwanted cosmic hobos. Borgman doubted even Buddha himself could survive a biofilter.

Oh, but if Maiwos filed a complaint... the paper work would take weeks!

---

As the Doctor prodded the inside of the fake Obelisk with his sonic screwdriver, Amy finally took in her surroundings. Aside from the Doctor and Princess Maiwos, there seemed to be five different kinds of aliens there, only one she recognized: a Sontaran, a four-foot tall creature that looked like a cross between a man and a potato. It wore heavy blue armor and shoulder pads and cradled a dome-shaped helmet in its arms. Amy wished it would put it back on, the Sontaran's green bald head and flattened face was not very aesthetically pleasing.

The other aliens were new to her, and it wasn't until she asked the Doctor long after this adventure had ended that she learned all their names. There was the Hawjabran, a green and yellow floating jellyfish with big bug eyes and two robotic limbs hanging from its sides. Then there was the Kroton, a giant armored thing with a large crystal for a head. Amy had assumed it was a robot until the Doctor told her about organic crystals. Then there was the Inner Worlder, a bizarre winged beast, several sets of yellow eyes embedded in its wings.

"Yeah, this lot fits right in with the whole railroad theme" Rory muttered under his breath.

The last alien was represented by a small flying craft, a floating silver shaft barely the size of her hand. When her eyes turned towards it, it took notice and introduced itself.

<Alien! Surrender, and we shall let you live as a slave to the Helmacron Empire!>

"Wait, was that in my head?" Rory asked. "Someone's talking in my head." This finally got the Doctor's attention.

"Oh, minor genetic telepathy, pretty common in the outer vectors," the Doctor said, approaching the tiny Helmacron ship. "Thought speak, if you want the slang term." Suddenly, the ship fired two tiny beams of light, striking Rory's coat jacket. Two tiny trails of smoke began to rise.

"Hey, do you know how much this cost!" Rory yelled. The Doctor stepped in between his companions and the Helmacrons.

"You know, 'Macrons, the Orient Express doesn't typically allow weapons on board. The fact that you are allowed to fire your main blasters should say a little something about your firepower. A little something."

<You dare mock the Helmacron space forces!? You shall be crushed into tiny bits!>

"They've been like that all morning," the Sontaran said. "I have submitted my request to the Grand Strategic Council that these vermin be wiped from the cosmos! I would make great sport out of hunting these insects down."

<Insects!?> With that, the Helmacron ship fired onto the Sontaran, not making a mark on its armor. The Sontaran just shook its  head and sighed.

"Wait a moment," the Doctor said, "if my understanding is correct, all five of you are at war with someone or another, which means..." The Doctor then dramatically turned towards Princess Maiwos. "Oh, you're kidding me!"

"Casmanopia is in an economic downturn!" the Princess cried. "We need whatever they can offer."

"Wait, what's going on?" Rory asked.

"Oh, I think I get it," said Amy. "This is an auction. Casmanopia is selling Sakhmait to the highest bidder."

"I gave your people the Seventh Obelisk for safe keeping!" the Doctor cried. "I trusted you, and now I find you're selling one of the most dangerous creatures in all the universe to THIS LOT?" He gestured to the crowd behind him.

"It's as you said, the Seventh Obelisk can't be opened! None of them could possibly..."

"That's not the point! The point is, you and your kingdom made a promise, and you break it because silicon stock prices dropped? And now someone has gone and stolen it, leaving you with this cheap replica!" The Doctor kicked the fake Obelisk in frustration.

"WE-DE-MAND-COMP-EN-SATION!" the Kroton said in a voice that sounded a bit like a printer.

"Doctor, I'm sor..." the Princess began.

"Don't tell me your sorry, tell that to the poor creature who was shoved inside this box posing as Sakhmait. Come on, Ponds!" The Doctor swiftly walked to a large vent behind the ****tail counter. It had been ripped apart.

"Are we going fake Sakhmait hunting?" Amy asked.

"Indeed. Geronimo!"

[Darth Zakryn]

Pretty good stuff, pop. I'll look over it later with a fine-toothed comb. For now, I'm just browsing through the site. I'm kind of tired too, so later when I'm more awake and refreshed.

[Phoenix004]

Animorphs/Doctor Who is a rarely seen crossover, but it's one I really like, being a big fan of both. I'm not very familiar with Classic Who but I'm enjoying the fic so far. Of the parts I do know, you seem to be capturing the voices of the characters well. It's nice seeing some of the lesser known Animorphs references, such as the Mercora and Hawjabran. The Doctor mocking the Helmacrons was also rather amusing.

[poparena]

Most Powerful Emperor, Lord of the Galaxy, we have made contact with the greatest enemy of the Helmacrons, the meddling Doctor! As is our orders, the destruction of the Doctor has been moved to top priority. However, we are surrounded by enemy forces, and any attempt of direct attack is regrettably unwise. We have therefor released a pod containing some of our finest warriors, which has planted itself on the Doctor's person! Our warriors will then cut their way into the Doctor's body and destroy his hearts from the inside! We will not return until the Doctor's head is in our tractor beam!

---

The ventilation shaft was large enough for the Doctor, Amy and Rory to walk about in a crouch, though they quickly learned that crawling was a better option. The interior was lit with strips of something resembling neon along the ceiling, and every time one of them bumped against the lights, they received a tiny shock.

"Bug zappers?" Rory pondered. "Do they really need bug zappers on a spaceship?"

"Not just bug zappers. Microbe zappers," the Doctor explained. "Keeps the air sterile AND keeps nosy kids from playing around in here."

"I can't believe this, I really can't believe this," Amy muttered to herself. She was struggling to crawl along in her wedding dress. "I got married less than six hours ago, and here I am, mucking about in the air shaft of a space train looking for a false god."

"Hey, think about how I feel," Rory responded. "This isn't exactly the honeymoon I had in mind."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the Doctor said. "I'll set up a real honeymoon for you two when this is over."

"So, what are we looking for, exactly?" Amy asked.

"Well, if it looks anything like Sakhmait, than it'll be tallish, greenish, lizardish..."

"Dangerous-ish?" Rory asked.

"Oh, I shouldn't think so. Whoever stole the Seventh Obelisk didn't seem to have any interest in assassinating the Princess, otherwise they would have made the fake Obelisk a bomb or put a killer robot inside or something. The first thing this thing did when it broke out was run away. It's probably more scared than any of us."

As if on cue, the three of them rounded a corner, and Amy gave a startled yelp. Curled up at the far end of the shaft was a large green thing covered in horn-like blades. It stared at them with a beaked face, shaking ever so slightly.

"Oh, a Hork-Bajir!" the Doctor said with some excitement. "Isn't she gorgeous?"

"It looks like if Godzilla and a lawn mower had a baby," Rory said.

"Oh, Hork-Bajir are harmless. And endangered and protected. This one must have been captured by a poacher." The Doctor started to slowly crawl over to the Hork-Bajir, which slinked back further down the vent. "Oh, no, I won't hurt you! I'm the Doctor, this is Amy and that's Rory. We want to help you! What's your name?"

The Hork-Bajir stepped back a bit further before giving off a strange gurgle.

"Ok, Gurgle. I know you're lost and confused. I know you don't know where home is. I can take you home. Would you like that." The Hork-Bajir didn't respond. The Doctor turned to Rory. "Rory, find me a tree. A real tree, not one of those cheap plastic ones."

"You want... the whole tree?" Rory asked.

"If you can get it. And a bowl of water. Hurry now!" Rory sighed and started to back out of the ventilation shaft.

"A tree?" Amy asked.

"She's been trapped in the fake Obelisk for who knows how long. She's probably dying of thirst and hunger."

"Hork-Bajirs eat trees?"

"Bark, specifically. All those blades are designed for stripping bark."

"These have got to be the meanest-looking herbivore pacifists I've ever seen."

"They're also very valuable to rare game hunters and exotic zoo keepers. I spent nearly a month petitioning the Shadow Proclamation to put the Hork-Bajir planet under their protection."

And so the Doctor and Amy waited for Rory to return. As they did, the Doctor softly hummed what sounded like an alien lullaby. It seemed to calm the Hork-Bajir down a little. Finally, Rory returned, pushing a punch bowl of water in front of him, dragging a small potted sapling behind him.

"This was the best I can do," Rory said, passing the tree over to the Doctor, who carefully examined it.

"Sinapi fruit tree, not very tasty, but better than nothing." The Doctor took the tree and bowl and slowly inched it towards the Hork-Bajir. It studied the Doctor's offerings for a moment before swiftly grabbing them. It stripped the bark with its clawed hands as quickly as it good, all the while drinking greedily from the bowl. The Doctor smiled and placed a gentle hand on the creature's head. "There there, now. It's all right... Oh, no."

"What?" asked Amy.

"Look at that." The Doctor inched a finger across the busy Hork-Bajir's throat. There was a long, thick scar across it. "Someone destroyed her vocal cords so that she couldn't call out from inside the fake Obelisk."

"That's cruel!" Amy cried. The Doctor put his forehead against the Hork-Bajir's, barely avoiding its horns.

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said quietly. Amy had seen this kind of behavior from the Doctor before, but for Rory, this was the first time he'd seen him be so tender. "I'm going to get you home, and then I'm going to find out who did this to you. I promise."

---

Somewhere among the fibers of the Doctor's tuxedo jacket, three Helmacron warriors were exiting their pod. One of them pulled out a device, determined a direction, and the three of them began to trek across the huge black cables that were its threads.

---

Princess Maiwos let out a sigh of relief as the Doctor exited the vent unharmed, then cried out in surprise as the Hork-Bajir followed him.

"It's all right, everyone, crisis over," the Doctor said with a smile. "Found what was clogging up the works."

"THIS-IS-THE-GRE-AT-SA-KHM-AIT?!" asked the Kroton.

"No, just a look alike."

"So, what now?" the Sontaran asked.

"Yes, we do not mean to be ungrateful," started the Inner Worlder, "but we have traveled a long way for this auction."

Princess Maiwos turned twelve of her eyes (almost half!) to the Doctor's directions. The Doctor shrugged.

"Don't look at me, this is your problem now," he said. "If you had just kept the Seventh Obelisk safe like I asked you, then none of this..." The Doctor was suddenly cut off by an announcement over the PA system.

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS! WE ARE PREPARING FOR Z-SPACE LEAP! AS IS CUSTOMARY, WE WILL NOW BE PERFORMING A STANDARD BIOFILTER SCAN! DO NOT BE ALARMED!"

"Biofilter?" Rory asked.

"Security system," explained the Doctor "Scans the entire ship, and if your bio-data is not registered, ZAP! Total disintegration.  Keeps unwanted passengers off the spacecraft."

"Um, Doctor," Amy said, a worried expression on her face. "Aren't WE unwanted passengers?" That instantly changed the Doctor's tone.

"Right, quickly! We'll be safe in the TARDIS!" The Doctor, holding the confused Hork-Bajir's hand, bounded out of the ****tail lounge with Amy and Rory close behind. However, they all stopped dead in the hall. Down a ways, a green light passed over the interior of the train. Most of the passengers didn't notice, a few giggled as if being tickled.

"Doctor," Rory said. "Is that the biofilter?"

"Yes. And it's between us and the TARDIS."

"How long do we have?" Amy asked.

"Oh, about four seconds."

---

COMING NEXT
CHAPTER THREE: THE BOY WHO NEVER WAS

[Darth Zakryn]

Lol, well I'm still waiting for the Animorphs to show up. Is the boy who never was Tobias? Having never watched Doctor Who, this is a little confusing but I can adapt. The introduction of the Helmacrons was a nice touch, as well as the Hork-Bajir. But why is he gurgling? And why is the plot so confusing? Hopefully these questions and more will be addressed in the next chapter of... okay, this is really starting to sound like a series cliffhanger's ending narration.

[poparena]

Chapter Three: The Boy Who Never Was

My name is Jake.

Jake Berenson, to be percise. I'm thirteen years old and live in Vallejo, California. Not sure why I feel like telling you that... just because I can, I guess. In fact, I'm not sure why I'm even writing this. Nothing really noteworthy has ever happened to me. I mean, nothing weird or special. I did just get picked for the school's basketball team, but that's only really important to me.

See, my brother Tom is something of a basketball legend in his school. He'll probably be a basketball legend in college, and some people, including my Dad, thinks he could go pro. I don't think I'll ever be as good as he is, but I'm glad I made the team. Less pressure that way, and it kind of makes our family a basketball dynasty. I decided to celebrate that afternoon with my friends at the mall. There was Marco, my best friend since diapers. Rachel, my cousin, who kind of looks like a little supermodel, though I don't really think of her in that way. And then there was Rachel's friend, Cassie. I only recently met Cassie, her dad runs an animal clinic out of their barn, and her mom is a veterinarian for Marine World. Cassie's sweet, a little quiet, but she always seems to know the right thing to say. You could say I was starting to like her.

Though not as much as Marco and Rachel clearly liked each other. They both liked to kid around with each other, cracking jokes at each other's expense, laughing together. Marco is a born-comedian, and while she doesn't look the goofy type, Rachel can keep up with Marco no problem.

"I just think they invented gymnastics to get cute girls into leotards," Marco said. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"Oh, so I'm just cute, is that it?" Rachel said with mock disdain.

"Oh, more than cute. In fact, you're very handsome! Dashing, even!" With that, Rachel threw a french fry at Marco's head. He dodged it. He'd had enough practice dodging Rachel's french fries.

"You know, Marco, I think you've found a new way to get free food," I said. "So, how's your dad's military computer thing going?"

"They've got all these computers hooked up and talking to each other in computer code. The way my dad explained it, it sounds pretty neat. He thinks in ten years we can have home computers talking to each other over phone lines and things like that."

"Why would you need to do that?" Cassie asked.

"Well, you could send documents from one computer to another without needing to mail a floppy disk or send a fax. You could send a spreadsheet from California to New York in ten minutes."

"Sorry, all this computer stuff confuses me."

"You and my mom. I don't know how she puts up with dad."

Rachel smirked. "She probably looks at you and thinks 'Well, it could have been worse.'" Marco responded by poking Rachel in the rib.

"Escuze me?" came a voice from below the table. I craned my neck and saw a small little boy, maybe four years old, with dirty blonde hair and was wearing a little t-shirt with a T-Rex on it. He was looking at Rachel.

"Yes, sweety?" Rachel asked. "Can I help you?"

"You are... pretty." The kid started to giggle, and Rachel began to blush.

"Uh-oh, should I be jealous?" Marco asked.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Rachel squeed, ruffling the little guy's hair. "What's your name?"

"Tobias." The kid said, smiling innocently.

"Where's your mommy, Tobias?" As if on cue, a woman walked up and grabbed Tobias' hand. I recognized her as one of the local librarians. Loren, I think her name was.

"Tobias! I told you not to wander off." She looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry, was he bothering you?"

"Oh, not at all!" Rachel said, smiling. "You have a really cute kid."

Loren smiled and walked away with her son. As so the rest of the afternoon went. We talked and joked for a while, and eventually everyone left on their own. I walked out the front entrance to the mall, where I could see construction putting the finishing touches on the new shopping center. Back when it was just a construction site, I used to sneak through it as a short cut home. I guess those days were over. The sun was starting to set over the horizon, the weekend was beginning. I felt good.

As I started along the sidewalk, I passed by a lamp post, and leaning against it was an odd-looking man. He looked to be in his late twenties, with wild brown hair and a lanky frame. He wore an old-fashioned jacket, suspenders and a cheesy bowtie. When I passed by, he looked in my direction and smiled. Not a creepy stalker smile, but a genuine smile. Then he spoke to me in a British accent.

"Hello, Jake," the man said. I stopped. I didn't know how to respond. Years of "stranger danger" specials on PBS were trying to process what was going on. Should I run away? Should I talk to him? What should I say? Tell him to get away from me? Tell him I'll call the cops? My brain went through every possible option, before selecting the best one.

"Um, hi," I said.

"Jake... are you happy?" This caught me off guard.

"What?"

"Are you happy? Do you have a good life?"

"...I guess."

"Does the future look bright to you? Do you have good dreams? Do you get excited for summer afternoons and weekends?"

"I suppose so." The mysterious man smiled and nodded.

"Good. It was nice meeting you, Jake." And with that, the man started walking away from me, finally stepping into the mall. I never saw him again.

[Darth Zakryn]

Hmmmm... I wonder who the mysterious man is. And who WAS the boy that never was? The chapter never elaborated on that, or implied it if you were going for subtlety. Otherwise, it was nice to see a non-MM#4 version of the Animorphs that didn't meet Elfangor, but I am looking forward to why they never did. Hopefully you can come up with a better explanation than in that book.

~DZ