A little regen fiasco...

A lil' old wibbly wobbly timey wimey moment.

Mistakes...

I am only a sort of creature, after all. We all make mistakes...

... I'd bore you all with the details, but I don't think I know what happened either... Yet... We've got a fun way of finding out though...

If you kids would... Join me... On my last adventure. Once more unto the Breach, all of us.

C'mon... Let's have some fun. One last, major trip around the Universe. Just you, me, my friends...

And something old...

Something new...

Something borrowed...

Something Blue!

Doctor Who:The Brightest Day

Oxford University. Year 2019. On a very basic, very normal Saturday...

The massive Oxford campus had developed rather well over time. The cathedral-like halls and buildings of the University were still beautifully maintained, but the halls seemed rather empty, considering much of the staff and children were off-campus for the first day of vacation. The Study Halls, the other stuff? All empty. Save perhaps for one classroom and one teacher, with a pair of students. John Smith, the 19-year-old whiz kid of the class sat at one table, fiddling with an old Smartphone a classmate of his had handed him to repair. Issue was within the battery, but no biggie. He'd have it fixed in no time. The kid had the basic Oxford uniform on, but his black hair was a bit messy and his blue eyes seemed rather focused on his new problem.

Sitting beside him, a row over, was his friend, Marie Beckett. A curly, ginger-haired, emerald-eyed beauty, sat, reading an old blue book with yellowed pages. The young girl had, as many others did, heard of the escapades of the Doctor... The alien man that saved humanity a thousand times over, all while travelling in a little blue box. She was a fan of his since childhood, so for as long as John knew her. She got in trouble with him after an event involving the nurse, a ladder and... Well, Marie heard something about a lighter and a skirt. Whatever...

Hearing a grumble and looking over his little project, hiding the grin behind the phone, the boy watched as their teacher felt her stomach with her hand... She stood up and ordered them "Stay in here... Don't move until I come back!" in a thick Scottish accent as she dashed out of the room. Wincing as the door to the class slammed shut, John now bore a grin on his face as he turned to Marie.

"Wanna get out of here?" He asked quizzically.

"... What did you do this time, Smith...?" Marie looked over her book at him, almost glaring into his soul. He chuckled.

"Teach's gonna be in the bathroom for a while... Slipped some of that extra strong laxative into her lunch when she wasn't lookin'." He explained, taking out a vial of the stuff and shaking it, before pocketing it once again and standing up as he spoke happily "C'mon. We can get out and be at home by the time miss gets back here. C'mon, let's go! Allons-y!""

Marie's sigh and eyeroll was followed by her getting up and saying "Alright. I was just finishing this book anyhow..." Before sliding it into her pocket, grabbing her bag and nodding to John "Lead the way." then following him. The boy tiptoed to the door, then propped it open and scanned the large hallway for any sign of movement. As per expectations, it was all clear. He looked back to Marie with a grin and gave a mock hand signal, which made the girl further sigh in annoyance as they moved out...

By the time they reached halfway through the hall, a pit formed in John's stomach. He didn't stop, but he felt it... Something, somewhere, was watching them...

"You alright, Smith? You're losing stride." Marie asked, looking at him as they still walked and noticing his jovial expression had also vanished. This is meant to be a normal Saturday at school, leaving for home from a detention that the kid earned wholeheartedly, but didn't wanna complete. He looked to Marie and gave a nod as they strolled forward... The girl noticed one of the veins on his forehead pulsating...

"You having another panic attack, John? I think the Nurse is still around..." The girl offered as she saw him. He seemed pale, even as they walked, but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine, Mar... Don't worry... It's just... I have a feeling." He noted as he felt his ears ring and pulsate too... Not to his heartbeat or to his throbbing headache, but to a thundering set of steps. He halted in the middle of the hall, mouth agape. His lower lip trembled as he watched the girl stop a few feet in front of him. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but then she too must've heard the metallic footsteps that marched toward them... "Marie... We're gonna have to run..." He spoke out of instinct

"... Why?" The girl asked, frightened...

As slowly as John could, he showed Marie to wait, turning his head and gaze to meet the oncoming threat. It too stopped moving as the duo of teenagers locked gazes with it. A Metallic monstrosity on two legs. It resembled a human form, just... Wrong... It had plated armor all over its body, with a black, mobile under-suit that allowed it to move. It resembled a combination of a knight and of a steampunk bot, with the human 'face' on it, dull and emotionless. A pair of black, wide eyes stared at the kids as it stood there... Then it spoke "YOU."

"... Us?" John murmured, surprised, before feeling his hand yanked with the rest of him beside Marie.

"RUNNING! REMEMBER?!" the girl yelled as they dashed forward down the Hallway. John was struggling to keep pace with the little athlete girl, who was a forehead below him, but way faster. As they ran through the hall, Marie held onto his wrist as she almost dragged the kid along. All the while, the footsteps sounded off again. And they got faster... Almost matching pace with them... Marie gazed back...

"YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED." The creature's robotic voice, almost human, but not quite, spoke.

"..." Marie knew those words... She'd read them out once. "Oh, God! THAT'S A CYBERMAN! One of the foes of the Doctor!"

"No! You're kidding!" John almost pleaded as they ran.

"I'm not kidding, John! That thing matches the description!" She almost yelled at him as they took a corner to the right. John blinked... A host of memories flooded him for a moment, with one image stuck in particular. He swallowed, grabbing Marie's wrist back and starting to gain momentum ahead of her. He started leading her around with speed, until they got into one of the more remote, 'under renovation' parts of Oxford. It'd been in renovation since he was born. Nobody bothered to search or clean the place... Which was odd, but was good enough... As he burst through the door of a janitorial closet and locked it behind him, with Marie close, he dived into a pile of trash below him. Sets of clothes, a bowtie, a fez... Eww...

"Uh... John? Mind me asking, what in God's name are you doing?" Marie questioned as the boy moved through the piles of clothing and trash. Until he found it. Pulling an antique, engraved watch with what looked like starcharts out of the pile of trash, from an old grey coat, he dusted it off, then blew on it... Marie raised a brow and asked "The hell are you gonna do with an antique watch against the Cyberman!? Gonna throw it at him!?"

"... I don't know, Marie... Open it..." He said almost absentmindedly, pressing the top button. It flicked open, to show an ancient watch face... And the ginger girl gasped as she saw a weaving, small cloud of golden dust appear from the watch, then enter the boy's mouth and nostrils... He closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply... Then they burst open, irises shining a faint gold as he stood up. He closed the watch, pocketed it, then dived back into the trash pile, only to find what looked like an old metal device with a blue light at the top... "Alright... Sonic Screwdriver, new model, check... New, young body, check and fit." He patted himself on the chest, then looked up at his hair "Key, check... Still not a ginger, but it'll have to bloody do for now..."

"... Those are the Doctor's tools... John, what?" Marie said with disbelief, jaw almost dislocating.

"Indeed they are, Mar... Indeed, they are." He flashed her a toothy, smug grin. "Now, I've got a Sonic, a new body and set of clothes, a key around my neck, a phone and you, dear miss Beckett..." He spun the Sonic between his fingers and pointed the business end at her, before grinning and asking "What do you reckon will happen now?" He then asked, watching as Marie quickly realized. An ear to ear grin formed on her face, her eyes, shimmering stars...

She looked to the man, then spoke "Kick robot ass and look damn fine while doing it?"

"Bingo." He grinned. As the Cyberman outside walked into the construction site, the kid propped the door open behind it, grinning as he yelled at it "OI, YOU BUCKET'A'BOLTS!" whilst extending his hands outward "GUESS WHO'S BACK!?" he then yelled as it spun toward him. Its sensors went scarlet as it saw him, then turned to him... Him...

"YOU ARE THE DOCTOR! YOU WILL BE DELETED!" The Cyberman called out to the Mad Man With A Plan, who simply grinned back.

"Oh, please, thousands of your kin have tried before and all of them wound up in the scrap heap... But by all means, be my guest." The Doctor gave his smug rhetoric to the Robot in question. He watched as it approached him fast, but thankfully, there was a little something above him that'd help. Watching as the Bot charged him, the Doctor raised his Screwdriver, powered it and pointed it up... And the telltale high-pitched hum of the Sonic sounded off... From the ceiling, a locked, heavy chain used for construction broke, leaving a large metal box with a tonne of equipment in it fall to the floor, squashing the Cyberman below its enormous weight...

"You thinks may have human brains, but you don't think really well..." He murmured. With a nod, he turned to Marie and took out his phone, before tossing it to the girl and calling out "Get UNIT on the phone! Tell'em we have a containment target, Priority one!"

"You don't mean THE UNIT!?" Mari's smile grew wider with each moment.

"Yep." He winked, before turning to the metal box before him. "That was a bit too easy, though..."

He hummed, before walking toward the box and using the Sonic to scan around it. He looked at the device after he was done. He took a whiff of the air, then mused "So that's what it was... A teleport." before pocketing the Screwdriver and looking to Marie. He watched as she'd just finished talking on his phone, then walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then spoke "C'mon. We got a Cyberman to track down and our first mission of the day, Marie. You up for joining the Doctor on his new trip?"

Marie's smile went wider as she nodded "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life!"

"Alright then, missus Beckett! Let's get our butts in gear!" He said, smiling right back at her as he took out his Key... The famous whirlwind of noise, followed by the shuddering items on shelves and the glass of the windows shaking told the telltale arrival of Something Blue... Marie gasped as she saw her appear before them, materializing in all her blue glory and with the writing POLICE BOX above it...

"Oh, My God, am I dreaming?" Marie asked.

"Not at all..." The Doctor said, smiling "I left her somewhere clear out of sight, but the girl just can't stay away from me, it seems." He then quipped, setting the key into the lock and propping the door open, letting Marie in first, then following her... The girl let out a joyful squeal at the sight of the interior of the TARDIS. It was black and gold, with the central console and engines being back to an older variation of the TARDIS' model. The boy patted her on the shoulder as she seemed to be crying tears of joy, before closing the door behind them. He walked up to the control console and said "Marie, do me a favor and take a seat before we go... And I gotta get you some self-defense equipment."

"I thought you're against guns." She noted, smiling.

"That was versions 9 and 10... I'm pro-self defense. Plus, it gives us more tactical options to escape from anything. I learned that one with a bunch of Weeping Angels." He grinned. "Now..." He said as he started walking around the console, flicking control switches and activating panels on the console as Marie sat down. She smiled as she saw him play with the console, the TARDIS' engines whirring to life with their telltale thrum... Grinning, the Doctor yelled "Once more unto the Breach!" as he flicked the last switch over and the Girl began to shift and teleport...

... Deep within time and space, meanwhile, an ancient Evil awakened...