Magical Adventures

how long have you been sober?

i heard the first 90 days are the toughest.

i know it doesn't add up, but i get something from holding onto this.

we're going the wrong way!

oh please, [ NAME ], could you not patronize me?

hey, can you keep it down please?

you know i hate it when you don't take the things i say seriously.

come on sweetheart, i just had a rough day today.

you're drunk, what a surprise!

that's not it, it never is!

you've been saying that for years!

everything looks okay after ten beers.

i could use a little help.

that's a real low blow.

don't you know how tough this is for me?

at least one of us is having a good time.

reminds me of some creepy cult.

this is a valuable, rare, and sought-after collection.

i'd like to have a bath in peace.

the devil himself would struggle with you.

this place is crazy enough without your two cents.

what's all the noise about?

[ NAME ], help! what should i do?!

stop, it's too late!

i'm sure there's nothing to worry about.

there was nothing you could do.

what's happened has happened.

do you trust your head, or your heart?

my advice, for what it's worth, is... to thine own self be true.

i'm not supposed to interfere.

what do you want me to do, [ NAME ]?!

calm down, genius, i already tried making a call.

hey, [ NAME ], how are you doing?

i don't remember being in any crash.

you're probably in mild shock.

i'm fine, thanks for asking.

think of it as a character building exercise.

teamwork at its finest.

i've got no signal either, must be a dead spot.

– and we've already concluded this conversation.

no need for a vote, decision's been made.

we really don't have time to be arguing.

try to be civil, it costs nothing.

try sticking up for yourself sometime.

i'm not wasting another breath on you.

the last thing we need is you causing trouble.

you wanna come along and wait with me?

i still think the smart move is to stick together.

how'd we end up back here?

there's a rational explanation for what's happening.

i'm doing my best to understand this, just like you.

we're trapped in a nightmare.

we have to get outta here right fucking now.

this isn't helping us find help!

there's nowhere else we can go except into that damn town.

i'm not sure this is such a great idea.

we're really going to get into this now?

i need to know 100% that i can rely on you.

we standing here all night or are we going inside?

life moves on, but we don't all go with it.

there's a phone, but it's been dead for years.

anything you can do would be greatly appreciated.

i saw someone in the woods.

nobody would be out here at this ungodly hour.

okay, very good, i'm freaked. who's there?

[ NAME ]? where are you? this isn't funny!

what is your name, sir?

what treachery is this now, [ NAME ]?

[ NAME ], come back here!

how can you not have seen that?!

"stressed", my ass!

you got a better idea?

i'm just gonna say it ... this is exactly what goes down in horror movies.

what the hell do we do now?

i'll deal with this, you stay right here.

who are you? what are you doing here?

what the hell are you? what do you want?!

a black tongue full of riddles, i'll have none of it.

fix your gaze elsewhere!

i am very far from okay ... i'm terrified and confused.

you're blowing this out of proportion, [ NAME ].

fuck that, i'm going another way.

don't you watch horror movies? you never, ever split up.

those movies are dumb.

can we just take a breath and think about what our next move is?

it's not safe for you to be hanging out here on your own.

thanks for coming after me.

the hell are you doing with a gun?

what we don't need is to get someone killed.

make sure the damn thing stays in your pants.

that "terrifying creature" was, in, fact, a cat.

there must be a radio or a working phone inside.

gimme that, i'll smash the window.

if you're feeling under pressure, let someone else do it.

even if you make it, there's no way i'm following.

i might've made a bad call here.

woah, you can't be doing that!

tell me that didn't just happen.

get away or they'll find me!

let's not hang around here, it's time to go.

seriously? you're going in there?

i don't like the idea of being out here on my own.

i'll be as fast as i can, okay?

[ NAME ], the door won't open.

woah, hey, take it easy.

can you stop reacting to every setback like a child?

we'll find a way out of here. we have to.

i appreciate you checking in with me.

who would want land in this godforsaken town?

tell me that didn't just happen.

who would say such a thing?

you look freaked, what's up?

you saw something else, right?

we're really screwed up, here.

can you tell me what you're upset about?

what's going on with you?

i'm going to help you out here if i can, but i need to know your name.

you cannot talk of our secret.

we have an understanding, do we not?

what more proof is needed that the devil walks among us?

the devil is here in this very room.

what the hell was that shit? was that for real?

like i say, i have no good explanation.

when you first told me, i thought you were messing with me.

let's try to force the handle.

still think splitting up was the right move?

personally, i think we're in deep shit here.

maybe the answer lies down the one path we haven't taken yet.

this is fucking crazy, we have no clue what we're getting ourselves into.

[ NAME ], you need to see this.

we were never meant to make it out of here.

i can't see for shit.

you keep saying you're in charge, so... you first.

we can't stay here.

you ever have any family here?

it's already been a hell of a night, but i'm sure we'll pull through.

you don't know that it's safe.

let us pray in silence.

i've done no wrong!

i do not deserve death, i beg you!

who are you ? and how come you look just like [ NAME ]?

the devil is in the wind, seeking to help his own.

[ NAME ], let us conclude our business here swiftly.

[ LOCATION ] is already lost, shrouded in evil!

the devil takes many forms, you know that better than any!

while [ NAME ] still draws breath, [ LOCATION ] is beyond salvation.

i don't know how to tell you what i just saw.

give me a moment, will you? i've just gone through something pretty rough.

what the hell is that?!

don't leave me behind!

i'm coming back for you, [ NAME ]! hold on!

reach out and grab my hand!

that was really quite close.

not that there's anything particularly wrong with death.

that gun might prove to be a lifesaver. or the precise opposite.

this must be very confusing for you right now.

i dare say we'll find out, hmm?

what in the name of holy fuck was that?

it was like something from a nightmare, did you see how it looked?

whatever that thing was, it's gone now.

thank god we're okay.

you are going to tell me right now what happened.

let's ... stay away from that.

i'm all for putting as much distance between us and that hideous thing as possible.

can't a guy get some peace around here?

i don't think there is another way.

[ LOCATION ] isn't a place i want to revisit.

i'm taking this to protect you.

why can't you leave me alone?

it could be leading us into danger, even a trap!

stay close ... who knows what's up ahead.

what did they do to deserve that?

"Ah, I do my best." he snorted. He hadn't wanted to turn down the invitation, after all; now he was fairly sure that that he'd been invited to catch him out, to make him do something dumb, give Santos some kind of weaponry against him. He was sure Mel's invitation had been genuine, at the least. Maybe she hadn't considered what it was, to ask someone in NA to come out to a bar but… well. Maybe it was nice, actually, to be here… reminding himself that he was strong, that he could handle it.

"Ah, trust me, lost my balls well before I got married," he snorted; she would be unaware of why that joke was particularly funny to him. But as she gave him the warning, his eyebrows started to raise. "Wait, shit, the dude would spike my drink?" he asked, shaking his head just slightly, "If someone was on medication that interacted with alcohol, he could kill someone. Not to mention the moral implications of breaking someone's sobriety deliberately." he turned his head to peer at the bar, trying to see where the workers' name badges were.

"Thanks for the heads up. Maybe I better stick to just coke." he wanted to believe that he would be able to taste alcohol if someone snuck it into his drinks, but, shit, if it was an unfamiliar fruity thing he might not be able to.

“... You forgot the literally illegal part of all of that. Just sayin’.” There was another dinosaur comment there threatening its way in the background. Probably a miracle that she kept it at bay, really. “Don’t know why the owner keeps ‘im on staff, must figure he learned his lesson when drag performers beat his ass in the parking lot.” 

Fun night that was, really. 

“There’s exactly 10 bars within walking distance of my apartment, 4 of them women friendly, 2 of them queer friendly, and this is the one that an ex of mine’s not currently on shift at. You can probably fill in the blanks there, pretty boy.” She’d probably jab a finger if there wasn’t the chance that it’d end in her falling out of the booth from sudden movement. Angerly glaring it’d have to be. 

So much for scream therapy... Maybe dragging Dennis out to see his new friends and let them play dress up on him so he looked halfway close to Normal for his farm girl was turning out to be a much better idea after all. 

“It’s beautiful. Like a storybook come to life.” In the best possible way. And then it somehow got even better.

The Doctor strode over to the doors, throwing them open and providing Mona with a view she never imagined she might be privy to. Slowly—though that had more to do with her awe than anything silly like fear—she made her way over to stand next to him. One hand held the doorframe as she stared out into space. Space!

Pitch black as far as the eye could see, filled to the brim with teeny, tiny, little dots of light. A bigger ball of it in the middle of everything, and a smaller ball of blue, white, and green standing out starkly. It didn’t matter that there was oxygen—the sight of it all took her breath away.

“Light pollution really does take away from a lot of the beauty up here. Thousands of years and I never get tired of any of this...” An equal amount of awe in turn. “And we can go to any of them, any star, any planet, at any point in their history. Let’s point in a direction.”  

To that he pointed off in a random direction, no aim of a location, off into the nothing before moving back to the console to pull up the info. Three galaxies worth of adventures before hitting the metaphorical border of known existence seemed like a good start for Mona’s story. 

Now came lowering it down... 

“Somewhere nice, hopefully not dangerous... Actually, I believe Asgard's still in this direction. Bit of a theme park, lovely place to picnic—though I wonder if I’m still on speaking terms with a number of the old Gods...” There’s a pause as the Doctor seemed to idly spin the time dial before landing on a date. April 19, 6100... as good a date as any. 

“Don’t worry about it, just trust me on this.” A confirmation that this wasn’t the first time he had handled an injured vigilante and it sure as hell wasn’t about to be the last. Walsh could at least be trusted, always helped to cross paths with the local corpseman. 

God, they were gonna have an interesting story drinking later. 

“Walsh is in on this operation but anyone else you just tell them that some crazy bastard jumped you ‘cause they thought you were the real deal. Now stop talking.” Sharper than intended, but it was an important instruction. The coughing was bad enough, the fact it was still laced with blood was telling him there was definitely a fluid buildup without even needing the x-ray.  

Ally's grin is impish as she pulls out her phone, going to his contact to change the name. "Benevolent Generous Agile King Abbott. There. Set in digital stone." She shows him the screen to confirm.

... He definitely wasn’t ever going to be in a position to understand the youths of today, that was for certain. Oh well, probably wasn’t important to even try anyways. 

“A generous and agile king at least got the mind to warn you about it. And good, you’re set with Shen then, he never loses these.” A quick walk out, rolling his shoulders. Right, how to divvy up this one...