The Iron Witch

Also I know it’s in my description but once again I would like to thank @justadumbgaycat for making the avatar for this account.

Like Waves Crashing On The Shore- a kpdh and toh crossover. This one focuses heavily on the kpdh side of things.

Digging Up The Past- the third part of my DWxTOH AU. Maybe read the other parts of this series first.

It Comes In Waves- a sequel to Like Waves that focuses more on the toh side of things. Please check the tags before you read this one.

From: [email protected]

Subject: An Olive Branch

Mr. Hopkins,

We at Bellonna Industries have heard rumors of your quest to create a powered suit of armor. Our company would be interested in helping you develop such a device. We believe this invention could help protect our country from those who wish to do it harm.

If you are interested, please either email us back or call us at the number provided.

I await your reply,

Eris Geld (she/they)

Bellonna Industry CEO

From: [email protected]

Subject: Old friend

Hello Eric,

This is Jacob Hopkins, we attended the same college and had a mutual friend, Sam McLean. I wanted to reach out and check in with you. I heard you got that engineering job you wanted back in school.

Speaking of, I had a favor to ask. I recently got my hands on some footage and wanted to know how possible it would be to recreate the suit in it. I've attached the video so that you can go over it at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time,

Jacob Hopkins

Museum Curator

Gravesfield Historical Society

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43059681/chapters/169250713

Anyway, here's the previous parts:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

---

The Illusionist’s Troubles:

Luz hated to admit it, but she enjoyed eating dinner with Raven’s new ‘strays’. It was one thing to interact with the characters in the game where she had to choose between predetermined bits of dialogue but to have an organic conversation with them? It was great, even if she mostly just listened as Gus ranted about the human items he bought.

Luz didn't mind though. She had always found it funny how close to right he was while still being spectacularly wrong. Honestly, the hardest part about the meal was not accidentally calling him ‘Gus’. He didn't get that nickname until the first time he met the Player, when they sneak into Hexside disguised as an Abomination to help Willow. It was too bad Luz probably wouldn't see them again after this trip.

---

It was well into the night when Luz decided to throw in the towel. She had gotten tired of getting the same two responses. It was [It's a snowflake] and [Space, something too vast to ever truly comprehend] over and over again. The second one was only cool the first four times, damn it!

What was worse was that she was pretty sure her observe stopped gaining experience after a while because she was essentially just clicking on the same item repeatedly and hoping to get a different description.

So, tired and frustrated, Luz left the small cliff side she was training on and made her way back to camp. They would leave in the morning, empty handed. What a waste of a trip. Maybe she could convince Raven to let her come back, maybe by herself too. She probably had plenty of days off, after all she hadn't taken a day off since she started working at Raven’s Nest. Well, except that one Raven forced her to take but Luz personally didn't count that one.

Luz was snapped out of her thoughts by the sight of Gus just outside of the camp’s perimeter, only there were two of him. One Gus would say something, then the other looked to be repeating it back. The two had several balls of light surrounding them so they could see. She squinted her eyes and noticed that one of them had a blue tint to him. It was an illusion!

[A skill has leveled up!

Illusionist’s Eyes (Passive): 1 → 2]

Luz blinked at the sudden appearance of the screen. Oh, was that how that skill worked? It would probably be super easy to max the skill out if that was the case.

She blinked the pop-up away and took in the scene before her again. There was something familiar about it. Just this once, she let curiosity get the better of her and approached the boys.

“Repeat after me,” Gus said, clearly frustrated, as he spun a spell circle, “‘My name is Augustus Porter’.”

“My naaaame is-” The illusion, which probably would have looked like an exact copy of Gus if not for Illusionist’s Eyes, tried only to buffer and cut out. Gus groaned.

“What’re you trying to do?” The human couldn't help but ask.

“Luz!” Gus nearly jumped out of his skin, the illusion poofing out of existence. “Where did you come from?”

“Somewhere over there.” She pointed in the direction she came from. This was starting to feel a little familiar. “What was that, by the way?”

“Oh, uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “just this illusion spell I’m trying to get down.”

It was then Luz realized why this was all so familiar. It was the scene from Gus’s Knee event!

“What spell is it?”

She could feel the excitement build in her chest. His path really was her favorite for the event. Half because she didn't have to fight an impossible fight with a Slitherbeast and half because Gus didn't always get the most attention when playing the game normally.

“It’s supposed to give a Perfect Clone illusion the ability to speak.”

“That sounds really cool!” Luz told him as she sat down in the snow.

“It is! We’re gonna learn it next semester but the class is still learning how to do the Perfect Clone spell.” He explained, sitting next to her.

If Luz remembered correctly, that spell was one of those ‘what’s on the tin’ spells. It created a perfect copy of what the caster wanted, often another person, hence the clone part.

“Yours looked exactly like you.” In the moment she couldn't help but repeat one of the game's chosen dialogue prompts. It wasn't her fault that it fit the situation so well.

“I mastered it pretty quickly. I master most of the spells pretty quickly.” His voice grew bitter, “Except this one, apparently.”

“You're just struggling a little, but you mastered those other spells, right?” He nodded. “Then you must be great at illusions, because I could never.”

She decided to leave out the ‘without the illusion glyph’. She was trying to cheer the boy up after all.

“I am a prodigy.”

Luz had always assumed when he said that line it was with an air of smugness. It was there but it seemed strained, like his smugness wasn't completely genuine.

She decided to put that on the back-burner for now, instead asking “Really?” more for the sake of continuing than anything else.

“Youngest in my grade by two years.”

“That must be hard.”

Gus looked at her in shock and she could feel her face flush. She let herself fall back into the snow in an attempt to avoid his gaze. Not even a second later the snow next to her was kicked up by Gus doing the same.

“It is. The other kids don't take me seriously unless it could help their grade but the teachers expect me to be better than everyone else. I didn't even have any real friends until I met Willow. I still don't.” He paused, staring up at the night sky until he chuckled. “I don't know why I’m telling you any of this.”

“Guess I’m just good at listening.” Luz shrugged, paused, then continued. “The other kids are dumb for not wanting to be your friend though, because you seem pretty cool to me. They’d be lucky to have you as a friend, Gus.”

“‘Gus’?” He sat up.

She tensed. Shit. She hadn't been thinking and had used his nickname. The one that he didn't have yet.

She could fix this.

“Uh, yeah. Y’know, ‘Gus’. Short for Augustus, it’s just a nickname.”

“A nickname,” Gus smiled. “Does that make us friends?”

For a moment, Luz wasn't sure what to say. She’d like to be, but he was still a plot important character. Wouldn't just being his friend bring her closer to the very plot she had wanted to avoid?

She risked a glance at the younger boy and gulped. His face was filled with so much hope, so much that it hurt to think about saying no.

She truly was weak.

“Sure.”

“Awesome!” He fell back into the snow with a wide grin.

Luz rolled her eyes at his antics really hoping this wouldn't come back to haunt her. She turned back to the night sky and was met with a screen.

It was different from the others, darker and with an image taking up half of the screen. It was the Illusionist’s sigil with a smaller Hexside logo next to it.

[New bond unlocked!

Master of Illusions (Augustus Porter): Rank 1

New Ability: Illusionist’s Eyes (Passive)]

She blinked it away, barely processing the pop-up. Another took its place.

[Alert:

Illusionist’s Eyes (Passive) is already unlocked. Skill will instead level up]

Then another took that one’s place.

[A skill has leveled up!

Illusionist’s Eyes (Passive): 2 → 3]

She silently sighed in relief when that one vanished and her vision cleared. She was starting to get nervous when they just kept coming. She really didn't want to regret her decision to befriend Gus. Luz stared up at the night sky, taking in the stars.

A few of them began to twinkle and form a familiar symbol. Luz didn't believe her eyes. There was no way she was finding it now.

[Observe!]

[There appears to be a symbol made up of stars]

Beneath the text was an easier to see version of the glyph. Luz sat up, quick to draw it in the snow.

“What are you doing?” Gus asked, sitting up to watch her.

She didn't answer, too focused on drawing the glyph. When it was done, she hesitated to touch it. What if it didn't work?

No. it had to. Why else would she have found it?

Luz pressed down on the glyph and watched as it glowed yellow. The symbol in the snow collapsed in on itself and a small ball of light floated before her.

“Magic.” She breathed, cupping the light, near tears.

“Incredible…” Gus gasped as Luz let the light float up into the sky.

With a shaky hand, she caught a snowflake and used observe.

[Observe!]

[There appears to be a symbol in the snowflake]

Luz drew the next glyph and pressed it. The glyph glowed blue and a pillar of ice grew from the snow. She couldn't help her smile as she laid back down.

“Thanks, Gus.”

“I don't know what I did,” he said as he laid back, “but you're welcome.”

---

[New skill unlocked!

Glyph Magic Lv1/10:

A long forgotten type of magic that used drawings to harness the natural magic around you]

[New skill unlocked!

Light Glyph Lv1/10:

A glyph that allows you to cast light spells. There is a 30% chance of messing up this glyph]

[New skill unlocked!

Ice Glyph Lv1/10:

A glyph that allows you to cast ice spells. There is a 30% chance of messing up this glyph]

[New title unlocked!

Apprentice of the Titan:

Most have the biological ability to use magic. The few who don't must find other ways to survive in this world. For some it is by training their natural talents, others turn to artificial magic. You have decided neither is good enough for you and have sought out to learn a long forgotten form of magic

Effect: +10 reputation with anyone with the Title: ‘Wild Witch’, +7 reputation with the Title: ‘Historian’]

Luz read each screen with care, processing each one.

---

Darius sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “And why would I do this?”

Raine set down their cup of tea. “Because with my BATTs free, that’s three new members for your little group.”

The two Coven Heads were seated in a secluded part of a small cafe Darius liked to frequent. Eberwolf, who couldn't stand all the stimuli, decided to sit this meeting out, which was fine to Raine. It was less suspicious for Raine and Darius to meet up, given that the two used to be friends at Hexside. Besides, they just needed to convince Darius to help them.

“None of whom are the Owl Lady.” He said.

“Eda stays out of this.” Raine glared at the witch. They had made it very clear Eda stayed out of their rebel group.

“How about this Iron Witch upstart?” He suggested. “I hear she has a bone to pick with the covens.”

Raine slammed their hands down onto the table. “No Clawthorne is joining if I have any say in it.”

They wouldn't let the small family be put in danger. Not after just being allowed access to their lives.

“So the Iron Witch is a Clawthorne? Good to know.” Darius took a sip of his drink. “What do I get if I help?”

What did Raine have? Not much, they were just a bard that knew a bit about the other magic tracks. 

Tracks like the potions track.

“I’ll help you get into his mind.”

Darius quirked a brow. “That’s Wild Magic. You can’t cast the spell.”

“But I can make the potion.”

“You're a bard, Whispers.”

“A bard that dated a potioneer for a long time. I know the recipe.”

“How quickly?”

“Give me a month.” They took a drink then added, “After the break out.”

“I’ll need it faster than that.”

“And I need time to gather ingredients. It’s not an easy potion, Darius.”

“Fine.” Darius huffed. “When’s the breakout?”

Raine smiled, knowing they won.

---

“I’m going to need some of your staff.” Darius checked his nails for dirt, even though he was wearing gloves.

“What for? And when?” Wrath crossed his arms.

“Tomorrow,” Darius told him. “There are reports of a large group of Wild Witches outside Palm Stings.”

“What? That’s way too soon!” The warden gaped. “Why can’t you use the scouts at the castle?”

“I was only just handed the assignment, Wrath, and most of the scouts have been assigned to the Eclipse Lake mission. So, do me a favor and give me the manpower, or do I need to report you for going against the Emperor’s orders?”

Wrath tensed. “No, sir. How many do you need?”

“Oh, I’d say around thirty to forty of your guards will do.”

“But that’s-” Darius glared at the demon, who gulped. “I mean, yes, sir. I’ll have to go tell them.”

The Beast in the Woods:

It was the closest thing to a normal morning as one could get on the TARDIS. Mostly because things like ‘normal’ and ‘morning’ weren't relevant on the TARDIS. But things were calm in the alien ship, and Rose Tyler had just finished a human’s average sleep cycle and stepped into the control room where the Doctor fiddled with the panel, readying the TARDIS to leave the vortex.

They went about their usual banter for the day, if not a little more strained than in days past. The Doctor couldn't really blame the human though. She had been more… restrained after their visit to 1987 London. But anyone would be if they had just watched a member of their family die, even though they tried so hard to save them. So he tried not to think too much about Rose being quieter than he was used to. There was a moment of silence between them as the Doctor debated on where to take them. He was pondering taking her to the universe’s largest library when Rose gave a suggestion.

“We should go on vacation.” She said, leaning against the railing.

“Vacation?” He repeated. Because, was she not already on vacation? A break from her mundane little life in the estates?

“Yeah,” she smiled that one smile, the one where her tongue stuck out just a little, “take a break from all the danger.”

The Doctor hummed. He quite liked the danger. Danger made life interesting, danger meant he could help others. Danger meant he could fix his broken promise. But humans were different, he had reminded himself. No matter what, humans couldn't run forever the same way he could, couldn't keep going head first into the life threatening situations with the same ease he did.

“There’s this great spa planet in the 31st century.” He told her, already moving around the console. “I’ll set course for a few years before it gets popular, avoid the crowd-”

“No. I don't want any aliens.” He tried not to take offense at that. “No distant futures either.”

“What do you want, then?” The Doctor huffed.

Rose moved closer to him. “Someplace where nothing happens. No alien threats, no experiencing a historical moment. Just a place to relax.”

“Sounds boring.”

“Exactly.”

Fine, if Rose wanted boring, he’ll give her boring. Although, as he thought over the given criteria, she never said anything about the place having history. A grin found its way onto his face as the Doctor danced around the control panel.

---

Luz Noceda decided that she hated Gravesfield, Connecticut. For one, it was a small town and incredibly boring. Even worse, it was a small town where everyone knew everyone and everything. People stared at the Nocedas, whenever the family went anywhere, like they were about to commit a crime or something.

Then, there was how Grandpa couldn't move with them. Back home, Grandpa would come over for family dinners every Friday night, where he would put Luz to bed and tell her stories about when he was young. Now, he lived 3 hours away and, even though her parents promised they would still visit, Luz hadn't seen Grandpa at all in the month since they moved there.

Although, Gravesfield’s biggest offense against her was it took her Papi from her. Sure, he was busy back home as an ambulance driver, but he still had time for her and Mami. He would spend his weekends with them, doing whatever they wanted. Now, days he weren't working were spent at the big fancy hospital that was nearby. Luz really did try not to be bitter about it, the hospital was supposed to help Papi get better, but she missed how her family was before they moved.

Luz was contemplating calling Grandpa as she walked down the empty streets. It was still summer, maybe she could convince him to come pick her up and take her home. Mami would probably be mad but Grandpa said it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Besides, Mami and Papi had talked about having her live with Grandpa before the move. They didn't know Luz was listening in on them at the time and they ultimately decided not to, but maybe it was still an option.

She took out her phone, a flip phone because Mami and Papi said she wasn't ready for a phone phone, and had gotten to her contacts when she heard it. The sound was hard to describe, a mix between a ‘whoosh’ing sound and a ‘vroom’ was the best she could think of. The curiosity she felt was overwhelming, so she really couldn't be blamed.

She ran up the street, just barely putting her phone away safely, to find the sound’s source. It had ended when she rounded the corner and all she found was a blue box, a few feet away. Luz was about to keep moving, when two people stepped out of the box.

The first person was a man with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He had large ears that seemed to stand out more thanks to his buzz cut. He wore a battered black leather jacket, a dark colored V-neck, dark pants, and boots.

The second was a blonde woman, who seemed much younger than the man, with brown eyes. She wore a plain white shirt, a pink jacket with a hood, faded jeans and sneakers. Luz wasn't sure how the two could be wearing jackets, considering it was on the warmer side today. She pushed those thoughts aside as the two began talking.

“Gravesfield, Connecticut, 2015.” The man said, stressing the year the same way Mami did when Luz got the date wrong. Then there was his accent, while similar to some she had heard, it didn't sound quite American to her. British, maybe?

“And what happens?” The woman asked with a similar accent.

“Absolutely nothin’.” He told her. “Gravesfield’s ‘bout as borin’ as it gets.”

“Fantastic!’

Luz frowned. She didn't understand why someone would want boring. Boring was the worst. It was just so… boring! No, Luz would much rather adventure.

She was going to listen in more, maybe even go up and ask them questions (like who on Earth would want boring), when her phone rang. She took out her phone to find ‘Mami Calling’ in bold blocky words staring up at her. She slid back around the corner and answered.

“Mija, where are you?” Mami asked as soon as the call connected. “It’s almost dinner time.”

Shoot. She hadn't realized it was that late. Although, in her defense, it was hard to see the phone’s clock with the numbers so small. “Sorry, Mami, I got distracted.”

She heard Mami’s exasperated sigh. “Just hurry back, ok?”

“Ok!”

With the blue box and strange people forgotten, Luz made her way back to the house.

---

In the dead of night, a loud roar echoed through the quiet town of Gravesfield. Most people ignored it, slept right through the disturbance, but three people tensed. One was a little human girl that had woken up to get water. The other two were time travelers, an alien and his human companion, who were on their way back to their spaceship.

“Maybe it's a bear?” The girl from 2005 suggested.

The Time Lord shook his head. “That was no bear.”

---

Luz stood just outside the forest near the house. The sound from last night sounded like it came from here and it terrified her. Because what the heck could make that noise? No animal that Luz knew of, and Grandpa made sure to teach Luz about all kinds of wild animals while Mami did the same for pets.

She could still run, get back to the house and pretend nothing was wrong. What could she do anyways? She was just a little kid.

“Sometimes you've got to do the scary things, because it means protecting your family.” Grandpa’s words echoed in her head.

If she left this alone, whatever it was, there was the chance it could leave the forest and enter the town. What would it do to the people? Would it leave them alone or attack? Would Mami and Papi be in danger?

That thought alone spurred Luz to grab the largest stick she could find, giving it a swing. She wouldn't let anything hurt her family. She would be like Grandpa and protect them. She marched into the woods. Thunder rumbled over head as storm clouds seemed to swirl and a cold breeze tried to make her shiver.

Luz came to a stop as she came across an old house. It was a, clearly abandoned, two story house with white walls and a brown roof that had a large hole in it. The door was in the middle of two broken windows to either side of it. There were four pillars at the front of the porch, acting as support. The stairs up to the porch were worn from years exposed to the elements.

Luz had never seen this place before. Then again, Luz hadn't gone this deep into the woods before. She turned to keep moving, when she saw it. The creature.

It was big, maybe the size of a bear or car, and had an animal body with a horrifyingly human face. It had completely black eyes, grayish yellow sharp teeth and long orange fur protruding from equally long, pointed ears. Its body was covered in burnt orange fur, or maybe those were feathers, and it had two dark brown wings and black feet that resembled a bird of prey’s.

Luz yelped and stumbled back, to put more space between the two of them, as she raised her stick. Ok, so maybe this wasn't her best idea.

---

The Doctor was a bit too confused to really listen to whatever Rose was going on about. He just didn't understand why something was happening now and here. The only truly eventful thing that was supposed to happen in Gravesfield should have already happened in the decades following the town’s founding. The town takes part in the witch trials and two brothers go missing, that was it.

But now, they had some strange creature making a ruckus, which led the two time travelers to the edge of a forest.

“There’s a residential area nearby.” Rose pointed out.

“The Wittebane cabin should be in there.” The Doctor said in response.

“Why are we checking a cabin?” She asked.

“‘Cause it’s thought to be a hot spot of weird things.” There and the old graveyard but that place was flooded so it was easier to check the cabin first. Honestly, he was doing Rose a favor.

“Do we really need to do this? Might not be anythin’ at all.”

As if to prove her wrong, a shriek emanated from the forest. It sounded young, and that was all the Doctor needed to know to start running. He didn't even bother to look if Rose was following him, he just ran.

The shriek led them to, what the Doctor was sure was, the Wittebane cabin. A large creature had cornered a child on the cabin steps. The child held a jagged stick in one hand and looked terrified.

“Rose!” The Doctor turned to his companion to see her bent down and picking up a rock.

“On it!” she told him.

The Doctor was on the move again. He was about halfway there when the rock flew by him and hit the creature. Rose must have a good arm because there was an audible thud and the creature reared back. The Doctor took his chance to scoop up the child and kept running. Rose would catch up to him, he was sure. He held the child to his chest, their chin resting on his shoulder.

He didn't know how long they ran for, only that he stopped when he came across another clearing near a small stream of water.

“Are you ok?” He asked as he put the kid down.

“Mhm.” The kid looked up at him in awe before seeming to analyze him. He took a chance to do the same to them.

He didn't trust his knowledge of human ages enough to guess but they were definitely young. They were tan-skinned with brown eyes and dark brown hair that went down to her shoulders. They wore a pink short-sleeved collared shirt with a blue overall skirt on top and a pair of muddy yellow rain boots. The child seemed fine with the exception of a small scrape on their right knee.

“Good. That’s good.” He sighed. The scrape might not have anything to do with the creature, could just be a consequence of them being young. The child stared into his eyes intensely.

“You looked like my Grandpa.” They said suddenly.

They said it so suddenly all the Doctor could do was let out a meek, “What?”

Because what? What did they mean he looked like their grandpa? That shouldn't have been possible, he hadn't even been thinking about the earth or a person when he regenerated into this face. No, he had been thinking of war, regrets, and how badly he never wanted another travesty on par with the Time War.

Sure, there was always that small possibility that there was a human out there that looked like any of his faces but running into their family was less likely. And the possibility percentage just kept lowering as he narrowed it down in time.

There was only one person out there who could recognize him as a grandfather, someone who’s mere mention of a thought of them could cheer him up, no matter how grumpy his face was. Susan, his actual granddaughter. Susan, who always seemed to recognize him.

But the Doctor wasn't even sure if Susan was still out there. Much like himself, Susan got called back to Gallifrey at the start of the Time War, and, even though he had tried his best to keep them away from her, she answered them. The last time he had seen her, in his 8th face, where she had been running from Daleks and he dropped her off on Kasterborous, was still during the war, before The Moment. He didn't know if she was still on Gallifrey, fighting in the front lines like himself, when he ended it all. By the end of the war, he was too scared to go look for her. If she had, could this young child be her? It wouldn't be surprising if she regenerated. They all did, eventually. But would she really have regenerated so young?

“Yeah,” the child continued as if she wasn't causing him an internal crisis, “you have the same look in your eyes that Grandpa has.”

“Oh.” The Doctor wasn't sure if he should be excited or disappointed. On one hand, they weren't Susan but on the other, they weren't Susan.

“I’m Luz.”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. Such a response never got old.

“Doctor!” Rose ran up to them and had to take a moment to catch her breath. “We need to get out of here, that thing wasn't too far behind me.”

The Doctor and Luz looked in the direction Rose came from and, sure enough, there was the creature. It stood at the edge of the clearing, glaring at them, but not moving.

“Why isn't it attacking?” He thought out loud.

“What?” Rose turned to look at the creature. “It's just standing there.”

“But why?” There was no reason as to why it wouldn't attack. The three were just standing there.

“Could we maybe figure that out somewhere away from the giant thing that wants to kill us?” Rose tried.

“I suppose.” No matter how much the Doctor wanted answers, there was a child with them. He couldn't put them at risk like that. He turned to Luz. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“But what about the monster?” Their voice wavered enough that he knew they were scared.

“Me ‘n’ Rose’ll take care of it. No need to worry.” The Doctor picked Luz up and help them to his hip.

“Yeah,” Rose chimed in, “we do this kind of stuff all the time.”

“Really?” Luz looked at them with child-like wonder.

“Yup! So you can go home, watch some telly and leave this to us!”

It was rather easy to get Luz back home after that.

---

It was when they had made it to her house that the thought occurred to Luz.

“What if it was protecting its home?” She asked, her keys left in the lock.

“What?” The blonde, Rose, looked confused.

“Yeah! Mami says that some animals react poorly to people in their home.” Luz snapped her fingers together. “She said they were terri- terr- terre-”

“Territorial?” The Doctor suggested as she struggled with the word.

She pointed at him. “Yeah, that!”

“That is a possibility.” The Doctor agreed.

“But then, what is it?” Rose crossed her arms.

“It definitely doesn't originate from Earth.” The Doctor said instead of answering.

“Like an alien?” Papi would be so jealous if it was and she saw it before him. He loved anything to do with space.

“Most likely.”

“Pretty mindless for an alien.” Rose quickly added, “Compared to the ones we’ve seen.”

“You've met aliens?!” Now she was a little jealous. Meeting aliens sounded so cool.

The Doctor chuckled at Luz and patted her head. “And you have too.”

“Oh, yeah.” She guessed if the creature was an alien, she technically had met an alien.

“As for the creature, it's likely around the same level as Earth’s wildlife.” The Doctor told Rose.

“Does that mean those animal cop people can take care of it?” Of course Luz didn't know if Gravesfield had those but they should, right?

“Ya mean Animal Control?” The Doctor asked and Luz nodded. “I doubt it. They dunno what it is.”

“Do you, Doctor?” Rose repeated.

He shook his head. “I've never seen a species like that.”

“Wouldn't be the first time.” The blonde sighed. “Can you figure out where its from? Like with the Slitheen?”

“Slitheen? Is that a kind of alien?”

“Maybe if we went over what we knew.” The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets.

“If you're gonna do that now,” Luz turned the keys in the lock and opened the door, “would you like some chips?”

“God, I would love chips.” Rose gave a toothy smile.

---

Turned out Rose did not love chips, Luz found out as she dumped a few of the small chip bags Mami sometimes gave her for snacks.

“What are these?” Rose asked, sounding a little offended.

“Chips.” Luz took one of the bags for herself. She halfheartedly hoped that Mami wouldn't notice the two extra missing chip bags. She, also, really wasn't supposed to have people over without a family member there.

“These aren't chips.” She said, taking a bag and holding it out, as if Luz didn't know what was in her own house. “These are crisps.”

“What are crisps?” Luz asked genuinely.

"These!"

"But those are chips."

Rose was about to say something when the Doctor raised a hand.

“Rose, remember, this is America. Crisps are chips here and chips are fries.” He took a bag as a light bulb turned on in Luz’s mind.

“Oh! You wanted fries? I’m pretty sure there’s some in the freezer I could make.” She then added after a moment. “But someone will have to turn on the oven. And put them in. and take them out. And turn the-”

“It's fine, Luz.” The Doctor patted her head. “The crisps work. Right, Rose?”

“Yeah, was just a bit confused.” The blonde gave an apologetic smile.

“Ok!” Luz opened her bag.

“So,” The Doctor put his bag back down, “what do we know?”

“It walks on all fours?” Luz tentatively offered, a chip in hand.

“Right, that narrows it down some.” The Doctor nodded. “What else?”

“It’s big.” Rose said. “Maybe the size of a bear?”

“Narrows it down. What else?”

“It's that terri-thingie.”

“Territorial.” The Doctor corrected. “Narrows it down. What else?”

“It's got wings.”

“Narrows it down.”

Luz looked into her chip bag. Only crumbs were left. She shrugged, lifted the bag to her mouth, and shook it.

“The face looks human.” Rose added.

“Narrows it down.”

“It’s light sensitive.” Luz flattened her now empty bag.

“What?” The Doctor straightened.

“How do you know that?” Rose asked.

“It’s eyes.” Luz grabbed some stray papers and a pencil that were used to make grocery lists. She made a quick drawing of the creature’s face the best she could. She filled in the eyes completely. “They're all black. Grandpa told me that animals with these kind of eyes are sensitive to lights, so they only come out at night or on really cloudy days.”

“Why does your grandpa know that?” Rose asked.

Luz shrugged. Neither Papi or Grandpa really ever explained how Grandpa came to know such things. Luz asked once about it and then didn't ever again when Grandpa got a far away look in his eyes.

“That’s really helpful, Luz.” The Doctor told her. “Maybe this way, we can deal with the creature without causing too much injury.”

They kept talking, trying to figure out where the creature came from, with varying success. They didn't have too much to work on, which according to the Doctor made it hard to really figure out where the creature came from. That being said, the Doctor was confident he had enough information to try and deal with the creature.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Luz dusted her hands after throwing away three empty chip bags.

“Me ‘n’ Rose are gonna deal with the creature and you stay here to watch some telly until your mum and dad come home.” The Doctor said firmly.

“But I can help!” Luz argued.

Rose bent down, so that she was eye level with Luz, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, Luz, what we do can get dangerous. And the Doctor just doesn't want you to get hurt.”

Luz huffed and crossed her arms. “I found it! I should be able to help you.”

“And you have!” Rose looked to the Doctor.

“If not for you, we wouldn't know about the eyes.” He told her. “And that alone is a massive detail that changed things.”

She pouted at them but stayed quiet.  Rose pulled her into a hug, which Luz returned despite her annoyance. It was nice. The blonde pulled away and gave her a smile. “Everything’ll be ok.”

“I know.” Luz tried to hide her resentment at that phrase. She had heard it a little too much recently.

The Doctor gave her shoulder a squeeze and then the two left. Luz watched as they made their way back into the woods and wished she could join them on their adventures. It would be a nice break from dull, boring Gravesfield. Then Luz remembered the blue box that was too small to comfortably hold two grown people. She barely waited before running out the door to act out her impulsive thoughts.

---

Luz made it to the box and took it in. It was a dark blue wooden box with dirty yellow windows. Near the top of the box was a black sign with ‘Police Public Call Box’ in white. The worn white sign on the left door with a bunch of stuff Luz really didn't care about. The most important thing was the ‘Pull to Open’ at the bottom of the sign.

She pulled the door open and had to blink. Luz stepped into the box and stopped about where the box would have ended. Unsure, she took another step, expecting to run into a wall or something. That didn't happen. Nothing stopped her.

“Magic box!” Luz gasped and ran around the room.

The best way Luz could describe the inside was, having a coral theme, with coral support beams. The walls were colored gold and had small hexagonal impressions. There was a raised platform in the room’s center with some kind of six-sided console filled with so many random devices Luz wasn't sure what to mess with first.

Luz had to smack her cheeks to bring herself back into focus. She came here because she wanted the Doctor and Rose to take her on an adventure, like what they denied her. She was sure the box belonged to them and so she’d use it to ambush them into taking her. To do that, she needed to hide.

If you see any typos, no you didn't.

--------------------

“So, what do you think?” Gus asked, his chest puffed out, clearly proud of himself.

“Why is it bright blue?” Hunter tilted his head to the side.

“Gus, I gave you my parents’ credit card,” Amity reminded him, rubbing her eyes tiredly, “and this was what you got?”

“It looks like it was taken from the sixties.” Luz agreed.

“I don't know, I like the floral pattern.” Willow said and Gus thanked her.

“I don't care as long as there’s snacks.” King said from his perch on Luz’s shoulder. His favorite spot in recent years.

The group of six stared at the van parked outside of the Noceda-Clawthorne household. It looked like a 1960’s era panel van painted a medium blue with a distinctive horizontal green stripe around the van, adorned with two orange flowers on both sides. Each side of the van had a distinctive painted green panel as if to frome a logo. The front of the van had a spare tire carrier, painted green, with one large orange flower located in the center. Two roof racks protrude from the top of the van to secure further storage, and a green hub cap with an orange flower on each wheel.

“The man at the dealership told me this was the best for what we wanted.” Gus argued.

“But you couldn't have given it a paint job or something?” Amity deadpanned.

“It’s Hunter’s car! He should have a say in how it looks.” Gus crossed his arms and suddenly all eyes turned to Hunter.

Hunter Noceda was the oldest of the group with ash-blonde hair and brown eyes. He was older than Luz by about two years and towered over the rest of the group. He wasn't born a Noceda, he was born a Wittebane and grew up with his uncle, who wasn't the best at raising a child. Made obvious by the scar on his right cheek.

Hunter cleared his throat, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “Willow’s right. The flowers are a nice touch.”

Luz wanted to groan and call her brother a ‘simp’ but she held back. If he genuinely liked the van, there was nothing they could do about it.

“Can we get moving please?” King stood, one clawed hand gently grabbing her hair. “I’m hungry.”

“You're always hungry.” She told him.

“Right, here you go, Hunter.” Gus tossed the keys at the blonde, who struggled to catch them.

---

She had met them in middle school, when family-friend-turned-second-mother Eda Clawthorne offered to let the family stay with her when Mama was taking more shifts after Papa’s passing to pay bills.

Luz met King first. He was so small then, the size of a puppy only a few weeks old. He looked like a puppy too, a weird one with a horned skull glued to his head.

They didn't know he could talk until Mama had asked, “What is it?”

He had just finished making one of the strange junk statues that littered the house, turned to Mama, and responded. “King!”

Luz decided, then and there, that she loved King.

Technically speaking she saw Willow and Amity next on her first day at a new school. Back when Amity still dyed her hair green because the mutated recessive gene her mother and siblings had had been drowned out by her father’s dominant brown hair gene. The two had been fighting, but not really fighting, outside the school.

They were fighting in the way kids fought in a way to mimic the adults around them, but didn't really know what they were fighting about. There was no venom behind the words, no tension in the way they stood. The entire thing screamed fake to Luz and only lasted as long as a fancy black car with tinted windows was parked. Once  the car was gone, the two stopped, promised to talk later, and wished the other a good day.

She officially met Willow during the first period, where the teacher told her the one next to the girl was the only available seat. The two girls made fast friends and Willow offered to show her to her next class. Luz agreed and asked about what she witnessed in front of the school.

“Oh, Amity has strict parents.” Willow shrugged and nonchalantly said. “Her mom doesn't really like me.”

“Why?” Willow was awesome, even in the short time she knew her. It was hard to believe anyone could hate Willow.

Willow looked her right in the eyes and with a straight face, said, “I have two dads.”

Luz tried her best to not physically react but she was sure her nose wrinkled some. “Oh.”

She ended up joining Willow for lunch where she met Gus, and would eventually be introduced to Amity.

“I skipped a few grades.” Gus had told her when she pointed out his smaller size.

“Cool. you're pretty smart then.” He agreed and that was that.

When Amity joined them, because she was held up for a few minutes by some teacher, she offered to get them a bunch of desserts, snacks, and drinks to celebrate the new addition to the group.

“You don't have to,” She had told her. “I don't want you to spend your money.”

“Please, my parents are paying.” Amity waved her off, and lifted the black credit card with a smile. They got those brownies that reminded Luz of dominoes, the one she would have killed for in elementary school, but never had anything good enough to trade for.

She met Hunter last. They had run into each other during what Eda called ‘Market Day’. Luz and King had gotten bored and Eda told them to explore the ‘flea market’ while she scammed some sucker. So Luz and King did, the puppy (because they didn't know what else he could be) riding in her hoodie, pointing at the various sweets he wanted. They were at the same stall and Hunter, wearing a gold cloth mask as if he was sick, asked a familiar question.

“What is that?”

Luz figured he meant King, based on his gaze.

“A puppy, I think.”

“King!” He insisted like he did when anyone asked what he was.

“Oh, ok.”

She met Hunter again a week later, when he joined her class. It was Gus who brought him into the friend group. They never asked why he was in the same grade as them even though he was older.

---

The only change Hunter made to the van was adding ‘THE HEX MACHINE’ in bright orange on both sides. She questioned him about his choice the night before they left.

“Yeah, ‘cause people call us the Hexsquad.” He told her.

“They do?”

“Ever since we helped Gus with that talent show by summoning a demon.”