London, early 1880s.
A group of men were working on the construction of a part of the London Underground, excavating like madmen and quickly covering the tunnel with bricks and concrete.
“Come on boys! One last push and we’re done for today!” the Foreman said.
The builders’ work continued for hours, until one of the workers, a skinny man with brown hair and brown eyes named Joseph Smith accidentally opened the path to a cave and fell into it.
Two of his coworkers came to the rescue. “Oi, Joseph? You’re okay there?” one of them, a blonde man named James Handerson, asked.
“I..I think so!” Joseph reassured them, “Oi, come here! There’s a huge cave here!”
James took a closer look at the hole and saw a peek of the cave, enormous and empty. “Blimey…” he thought. “It’s huge over here!”
“Weird, the maps didn’t indicate the presence of a cave.” another worker said.
“Then it has never been discovered until now.” James said.
“We should report it to the Chief, he may know what to do.” The worker said.
“Hold on there, Joseph, we’re gonna get a rope for ya!” James said.
While his coworkers were getting a rope, Joseph decided to explore the cave to kill some time. He didn't notice some rocks and fell on them. As he tried to stand up he noticed that there was someone under them
Joseph quickly put the rocks away, hoping
he would save them in time. However, his heart skipped a beat when he saw who was there.
They looked like a woman, but something was off, her skin was green, with scales all over her body, as if she was some sort of humanoid lizard.
Joseph initially got scared the hell out of him, but then he partially regained composure. He checked her pulsations, he felt nothing. “She’s dead…” he thought.
Suddenly Joseph felt something, as if someone was watching him.
“Who’s there?” He asked: No response, only the sound of “swooshing” of someone quickly moving around.
Outside, James found a rope and went to the cave. “Oi, Joseph! I found the rope for ya!” he said, no response. “Joseph?”
James looked inside the cave, Joseph wasn’t there, only traces of blood, so he tied the rope to a pole and went to check for his coworker.
The last everyone heard was a scream of terror, echoing through the tunnel.
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A year later, the TARDIS materialised in Hyde Park.
“Good, we have landed.” the Doctor said.
“Landed where?” Ayumi asked.
“We’re currently in the past. Hey, let’s play a game! Let’s take a look outside and try to guess the time period and location!”
The young-looking Time Lord opened the door of the TARDIS and showed the outside to the kids. They were in London, with the smog of the factories giving a foggy aura to the city, carriages moving on the streets and men and women of any age having a walk, with the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament towering over it.
The Detective Boys were fascinated by the view.
“Looks like we’re in Victorian London.” Conan said.
“Correct! We’re in 1881, to be exact.” the Doctor said, “Now, follow me, we’re going to the wardrobe.”
“Huh? Why?” Genta asked.
“Because with our modern clothes we would stand out too much.” Mitsuhiko said.
“Correct again! It’s better if you don’t stand out when you time travel.” the Time Lord said. “Unless your name is the Doctor, that is.”
The Doctor brought them to the TARDIS wardrobe, making them wear era-appropriate clothes.
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Later, the group came out of the TARDIS.
Conan, Mitsuhiko and Genta wore clothes in a similar fashion to the Doctor’s. Conan just added a blue waistcoat and trousers instead of his shorts to his outfit, Mitsuhiko wore a light green three-piece suit, along with a black tie. Genta wore a black suit with a yellow cravat and a velvet blue overcoat and a top hat, while Ayumi wore a light pink dress with puffed slides, along with a blue ribbon while Shiho wore a purple dress.
The Detective Boys were loving the clothes they chose, and the Doctor was amused by their excitement.
“We look like fine gentlemen!” Mitsuhiko chuckled.
“Indeed we do, good sir.” Genta said in a mocking tone, and also laughed.
“Doctor!” Ayumi went to the young-looking Time Lord, wanting to show off her dress to him. “How do I look?” She seemed to be really interested in the Doctor’s judgement.
The Time Lord smiled softly, finding the fact that she wanted his approval rather adorable. “You look wonderful.”
Ayumi was happy with his approval, “Thanks!”, she smiled.
“Well then, before we start, Conan, can I talk with you in private?” the Doctor whispered.
“Hmm? Sure.”
The two entered in the TARDIS, so that the other could hear them.
“Is there something wrong, Doctor?”
“It’s about that girl, Shiho.” the Doctor said. “There’s something about that doesn’t convince me.”
“Yeah, I felt something about her too, she’s far too cold to be a normal kid.” Conan said. “Even when she took the gun from that Lady in Black, she had nerves of steel and shot as if she used a gun before.”
“Do you think she’s in the same “predicament” as ours?”
“There’s a chance.”
“Let’s keep an eye on her, we don’t know if she’s a friend or is pretending to be one.” the Doctor said, “Let’s go now, the kids must be waiting for us.”
The two left the TARDIS.
“There you are, you two!” Mitsuhiko said, slightly annoyed.
“What took you so long?” Ayumi asked.
“Sorry for the wait, everyone, I had to tell Conan something.” the Doctor said. “Let’s go.”
The group, escorted by the Doctor, who acted like a tourist guide and a caretaker, showed them the wonders of Victorian London. Conan was the most curious about it, since it’s the time period his favourite author, Arthur Conan Doyle, lived.
Their “tour” lasted hours, and the TARDIS team (minus the Doctor and Conan) were tired.
“Ah, I’m so tired…” Ayumi complained.
“All this walking made me hungry…” Genta said.
“Can we rest for a bit?” Mitsuhiko said.
"Fine, let’s go back to the TARDIS-”
The Doctor was going to open the door of the TARDIS, but noticed a group of policemen, putting a corpse on a carriage.
“Oi.” He said, “Come take a look:”
“They’re from Scotland Yard.” Conan commented.
“Did something happen?”
“I think I saw a corpse, perhaps a murder occurred.” Shiho said.
“Let’s take a better look then.”
The Doctor, followed by the Detective Boys, followed Scotland Yard’s carriage.
“Another victim?” A man with a moustache, wearing a three piece suit and a top hat, holding a cane, commented.
“It seems so, it's the 10th one this week.” A blonde man in his mid 30s said.
“That Underground is cursed, I do wonder why they keep trying to continue the tunnel.” The other man said.
“Excuse me, sir!” Conan said, “What with the Underground you’re talking about?”
“Oh, it’s about the London Underground, there have been many incidents related to the expansion of it.” the man explained, “By the way, your English is not bad for an Asian.”
“But he isn’t talking in Engli-”
“The London Underground, you say? What kind of accidents?” the Doctor interrupted Genta.
“Of various kinds-”
“Stop that, will you? These aren’t things a child should hear!” the man with the moustache said, “It’s nothing that matters to you, children, grown-ups will take care of it.”
The Detective Boys were slightly annoyed by that dismissal, but left anyway.
“Incidents relating to the London Underground? I don’t remember hearing about that.” Conan said.
“What should we do, then?”
“Simple, the first thing a Detective does: Investigate.” the Doctor said.
“We should start checking the London Underground, it’s our only way to find some clues.” Shiho said.
“I have an idea, you guys wait for me at the entrance of the Underground, I’ll try to get some information about the cause of death.” the Doctor said.
“Wait! Are you gonna do it?” Mitsuhiko asked.
“Don’t worry, I have my methods!” the Time Lord said, as he left the group.
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The Doctor reached the mortuary.
“Now, how can I enter inside? I doubt they would let a child come in.” he thought, “Wait, it’s 1881, if it’s the correct time period, perhaps I could meet Professor Litefoot, “Or maybe not, if I recall correctly, it was the 1890s when we first met him.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
He put a couple of boxes near the window to form a stair, he opened the window with his sonic screwdriver and broke in.
Luckily, the room he entered was empty.
“Okay: Find the corpse, quickly check it and scan it then leave the mortuary and go back to the kids, easy and simple, it can’t go wrong-”
Suddenly, a man entered the room.
“Except it did.” the Doctor said.
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Meanwhile, the Detective Boys were impatiently waiting at the entrance of the Underground.
“It has been an hour.” Conan said.
“Should we go look for the Doctor?” Ayumi proposed, worried.
“I don’t know, he seemed to know what he’s doing.”
“...Screw it, I’m going!” Genta said.
“Genta, you can’t!”
“the Doctor told us to wait here, he might get worried if he doesn’t find us here.” Conan said, “Plus, you’ve never been to London, Genta, you’re going to get lost down there.”
“Look, over there.” Shiho noticed the Doctor running at them.
“Apologies for the wait, everyone.” the Doctor said, “I had a little trouble in the mortuary. Thanks the stars this body is faster and more agile and my previous ones.”
“So? What have you found out?” Shiho calmly said.
“I’ve checked the corpse, there were traces of venom around the neck.”
“Venom?!” the Detective Boys said in unison.
“So it wasn’t an accident, then!” Genta said.
Everyone nodded, and the TARDIS team went into the Underground.
The interior was dark, only lightened up by various lamps set around.
“It’s very cold down here…” Ayumi commented, trembling from the cold
“Maybe it’s because we’re underground.” Mitsuhiko said.
The Doctor took off his frock coat and gave it to the little girl. “There you go, you probably need it more than I do.”
“Oh, thanks!” Ayumi smiled, Genta and Mitsuhiko felt jealous.
“There’s a large hole over there.” Shiho pointed at a wall of the tunnel.
The group went to check it.
“It’s an entrance to a cave.” Conan commented.
“We’re probably going to find something interesting over there.” the Doctor said, “The fall is short, we shouldn’t need a rope to leave after that.”
The Time Lord jumped in the cave, followed by the Detective Boys.
However, someone was observing the group, lurking from the shadows.
While walking, the Detective Boys asked some questions to the Doctor.
“Hey, Doctor…” Ayumi asked, “Can we ask you some things?”
“Sure, what is it?” the Doctor said.
“We’re in England, right? Then, why do they speak in Japanese?” Genta asked.
"Simple, the Translator Matrix of the TARDIS translates for you and for those who speak to you: You hear them speak in Japanese, they hear you speak in English in this case. Even though I'm not speaking in Japanese, for example.”
While chatting, Shiho started feeling a presence around them, as if something was watching them from the shadows.
“Shh!” She said, “I think we’re not alone in this cave.”
“It must be our “friend”, then.” Conan said.
“W-What should we do?” Mitsuhiko asked.
“Let’s continue, and try to confuse them.” the Doctor said, “I suggest not to split up, you guys might get lost here.”
While continuing walking and try to make their traces lose, Conan is quite pensive.
Ayumi noticed that, “Is there something wrong, Conan?” she asked.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing, just trying to make some theories.” he said, “If I’m starting to understand this weird stuff, I think that the one behind all these accidents is not from the 1880s.”
“Spot on, Conan.” the Doctor said, “In fact, I don’t even think they’re human.”
“You mean another alien is behind all of this?” Mitsuhiko asked.
“How rude, they’re not aliens! They’re from Earth, just like you! Our “friend” over there is…A Silurian, they’re notorious for their deadly venom, even to Time Lords.” the Doctor explained.
“Si…Lurian?” the Detective Boys said in unison, both confused and curious.
“Also known as Homo Reptilia, they were Earth’s dominant species before they hibernated and humans took over. I met them before, they aren’t very…Friendly towards humans.”
“So that’s why those men were killed? Maybe this is her home?” Ayumi said.
“Or rather, it’s where she was hibernating.” Shiho said, “The digging of the Underground must have woken her up.”
“I think so too.” Conan said, “I doubt we should hand them over to the local Law Enforcement, they would go mad the moment they see them.”
“Then, it’s better if we deal with it as soon as possible.” Shiho said.
“I agree, I’ll try to mediate, they’re probably not going to listen to you guys, since Silurians have low opinions of you "apes ", as they call you." the Time Lord said, “Now, let’s continue.”
The group, not having any choices, continued throughout the cave.
Everything went fine until the Silurian kidnapped Ayumi.
The girl screamed, immediately capturing the group’s attention
“Ayumi!-” Genta and Mitsuhiko were going to rescue her, but the girl and her captured immediately disappeared.
“Where did they go?!” Mitsuhiko said, shocked.
“I don’t know, but I might find it.” the Doctor said, as he pressed various buttons on his sonic screwdriver, “I should manage to localise her via her DNA…Done!” The sonic screwdriver started emitting a quiet noise.
“What have you done?” Genta asked.
“I’m localising her with my sonic screwdriver, the louder the sound becomes, the closer we are to Ayumi! Follow me!”
The Doctor, followed by Conan, Mitsuhiko and Genta, ran through the cave, following the signal.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Ayumi regained consciousness.
Her vision was dizzy, but could see the silhouette of her kidnapper:
It looked like a woman, however, she wasn’t a human: It had green scales all over her body and was wearing weird-looking armour.
Ayumi tried to remember the Doctor’s explanation and realised that she was now in front of a Silurian.
"You're awake, ape.” the Silurian said.
Now, saying that Ayumi in this moment was frightened would be an understatement. However, she knew that her friends would come to rescue her, so he attempted to stay calm and reason with the Silurian until she would be rescued.
“H-Huh…I-I-I…” Ayumi tried to find the words, while she was still incredibly nervous. Luckily, the Silurian ignored her, guarding the outside of the section they were in.
Ayumi took a chance to look at where she was, on the other side of the “room”, there were various makeshift graves, making the little girl saddened.
“W-Why am I still alive?” Ayumi asked the Silurian, now that she thinks of it, the Silurian could have killed her on the stop, but she didn’t.
“...Your little friends are probably searching for you, so I’m waiting for those little monkeys to arrive here so I can deal with them.” The Silurian said.
Ayumi’s panic became stronger, she had to act before her friends fell into a trap. She definitely couldn’t fight her, so she tried to simply talk with them.
“Are those…Your friends?” She asked.
The Silurian soldier glanced at the human child and at the graves. “...Those are my sisters, your foolish species invaded our domain and killed them all.” She said, with her tone full of cold hatred.
“S-So those workers…You killed them?” Ayumi said.
"So? It's their fault, they deserved to perish." The Silurian soldier justified her actions.
“AYUMI!” Various voices of children called for her: It was the Detective Boys, coming to save her.
The little girl’s terror and anxiety disappeared the moment the Doctor entered her field of vision.
Even if it hasn’t been a while since the two met, the Doctor seemed to have a calming presence on her, as if everything will be fine when he arrives.
The Silurian soldier grabbed Ayumi by the neck and blocked her. “Stop! Or I'll kill this small monkey!”
The group stopped.
“You must be the Silurian who killed those workers.” the Doctor said.
The Silurian was impressed, “You seem to know my species.”
“Oh, I met Silurians in the past. I'm the Doctor, these are Conan, Shiho, Mitsuhiko and Gent-"
"I don't care about your names!” The Silurian soldier interrupted.
“Ah, shucks, there goes Plan A…” the Doctor thought, “Okay, listen, let’s reason. You’re a good person.”
The Silurian soldier raised an eyebrow (Well, she technically didn’t, since she’s a Reptilian, but still) “How can you know that?”
“For starters, you didn’t kill Ayumi, you could have easily done it.” The young-looking Time Lord said.
“Simple, I spared her to threaten you! Leave this cave immediately and I may not poison your little friend.” the Silurian demanded.
The Detective Boys seemed to be willing to oblige, Conan was undecided whether intervening or letting the Doctor deal with it.
The Doctor, however, didn’t seem to buy the Silurian soldier’s threat. So, he used a rather risky plan to save Ayumi.
He took a deep breath and, with the coldness and the eeriness he had in his body, pronounced 4 words:
“Alright then, kill her.”
The Silurian was surprised, while the Detective Boys were utterly shocked by the Doctor’s bluntness
“What are you saying, Doctor?!” Genta and Mitsuhiko said, outraged.
“Are you crazy?! Wha-” Conan’s scolding interrupted when he noticed one particular detail about the Doctor: He was trembling, as if he was on the verge of tears, but was still holding a poker face.
Seeing this natural, human reaction, Conan calmed down.
Shiho, however, was intrigued and amused by the situation.
“If your threat is real, then, kill her.” the Doctor said once again.
The Doctor’s strategy seemed quite effective, she was so surprised that she didn’t know what to do.
As for Ayumi, she was devastated by the Doctor’s apathy, utterly shattering her opinion she had of the alien.
Then, the Silurian freed Ayumi. “Fine, you win.”
The Doctor came closer to the Silurian, looked at the tombstones, and softly smiled at the reptilian. “I know how you feel, you’re mourning the deaths of your comrades and you’re trying to cope.”
“It’s their fault…It’s those apes’ fault if my sisters have perished! Tsk, attacking someone who can’t defend themselves! Only a coward would do that!”
“But it’s not a reason to kill someone! Even if they did it on purpose or not! Two wrongs don’t make a right. You don’t have to give in to revenge, if you move on, I’m sure you’ll feel better with yourself.”
The Doctor’s words seemed to have convinced the Silurian, until everyone heard a rumbling.
“W-What was that?!” Genta said.
“The cave must be collapsing!” Shiho said.
“Well then, guys! For the final for your first adventure…RUN!”
The TARDIS team and the Silurian ran away as fast as they could.
Luckily they managed to leave the cave safe and sound.
“Is it over?” Genta said, panting, “I’m tired of running!”
“It…It seems so…” Mitsuhiko said, panting.
While the Detective Boys were resting, the Silurian looked sadly at the now-blocked entrance of the cave.
The Doctor noticed that and went to comfort her.
“I’m sorry for what we caused.” He said.
“It’s not…It’s not your fault. I suppose it was inevitable.” She said, “But now I wonder where I should go now.”
“How about you explore the city? How much time have you been hibernating?”
“Millions of years.”
“That’s even better! Pretty sure London has changed a lot during that time! It may be hard for you, but I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
The Silurian smirked. “I didn’t know the children of this species could be this wise.”
“Well, I’m not exactly part of their species.” the Doctor said, nodding his head towards the Detective Boys, “But still, I appreciate the compliment. By the way, you didn’t tell us your name.”
“...Va’stra.” Va’stra introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you, Va’stra.” the Doctor said, “Well then, the kids and I will depart now, I hope we’ll meet again, after all, sometimes the universe is huge yet small at the same time.”
“The feeling is mutual, Doctor.”
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The Doctor and the Detective Boys left the Underground and returned back to the TARDIS.
However, there was still some tension among them, specifically, between Genta and Mitsuhiko towards the Doctor, due to how casually he was willing to sacrifice their friend Ayumi in a gambit to defeat Va’stra.
As they enter the TARDIS, the Doctor whispered to Ayumi. "May I talk to you in private?"
Ayumi nodded.
“Oi, Doctor.” Conan said, slightly worried after he saw the Doctor’s trembling. “Are you okay?”
The Doctor smiled, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
The child-looking Time Lord and the human little girl went to the former’s room, so they wouldn’t be heard.
“Is this your room?” Ayumi asked, looking around the room. She noticed the photograph of a dark-haired teenage girl, wearing a hat.
“Wow, she’s so pretty!” Ayumi thought.
“Hey, Ayumi…” the Doctor said.
“Hmm?” Ayumi was listening.
“About what happened with Va’stra…” Suddenly, the Doctor hugged Ayumi, causing the latter to slightly blush from the surprise.
“I’m…I’m sorry…” the Doctor apologised, his tone was shaking. “I shouldn't risk making you get killed, I’m so sorry…”
A smile appeared on the girl’s face. She had already forgiven him when Va’stra surrendered. Plus, she doesn’t like to hold a grudge.
“Don’t worry!” The girl smiled, “You were trying to save me, I’m not angry!”
The Doctor broke the hug and checked his eyes: They were wet, he was weeping.
“Tears…” He thought. “Huh, it has been a while since the last time I cried. Guess I can’t make cruel gambits like I did with Ace anymore. ”
“Do you feel better now?” Ayumi tilted her head.
“Yeah, I do.” the Doctor regained composure. “Now, let’s go back to our adventures, hmm?”
“Yes!” Ayumi said, excited, clinging to the Time Lord’s arm.
Meanwhile, Conan explained what actually happened and the Doctor’s remorse, managing to make the two children calm down.
The Doctor returned to the console, also apologised to the two and then pulled down the lever.
The TARDIS dematerialised and the group went for yet another new adventure.
<-----To Be Continued--------