Last time
Nibbler: Time lord! You will relinquish control of this vessel to me, or I will wipe your mind clean!
Doctor: No, I don't think you'd become so desperate as to do something like that.
Nibbler: I DO WHAT I MUST!
The Doctor felt, rather than heard, an ever-increasing sound in his head, one that grew higher each second. In moments he felt his vision blurring, and he could hardly stay on his feet. Clutching his head, the last thing he heard was Nibbler's voice, barely audible through the pain.
Nibbler: I.I am sorry.
That was the last thing the Doctor heard, as he sank to the floor.
Fry ran to the unconscious form of the Doctor, kneeling down beside him but afraid to touch him. Then he angrily turned to face Nibbler.
Fry: Why'd you do that? He's trying to save Leela, and Hilly and Davey, it, the whole Earth! I won't let you do this!
He leapt to his feet and started towards Nibbler, who sighed and looked at him sadly for a moment. Then he flexed his third eye, and Fry found himself frozen in his tracks.
Nibbler: Mighty one, I am truly sorry for this. While I did recommend that this action take place, I had hoped that you would have the "Other" with you when the time came. Alas, it was not to be. I can only hope that you will someday be able to forgive me. You will forget this period of time, and now, you will sleep.
Nibbler looked at Fry, who found himself feeling very tired, but he wasn't sleepy was he, no, he couldn't be, he was trying to help Leela, he didn't .
Fry gently slumped over, snoring loudly. Nibbler watched him a moment longer, then satisfied that he was truly asleep, waddled over to the console. He stood at the base, then gathering himself, leaped upwards, landing on top it. He studied the controls intently, then flicked a switch.
Nibbler: There, that should activate the inertial guidance drive, which will allow me to move this ship out of the time vortex. Then I can plot a course for Eternia.
Nothing was happening. Then, the switch that he had flipped toggled back to its original position.
Nibbler: What? This cannot be. I am the one in control of this vessel. Let me see, the trans-dimensional stabilizers are here, so, if I move them to zero plus seven, that should put me on a homeward course.
Nibbler turned the dials counter clock-wise, but as soon as he released them, they turned themselves back to their original positions.
Nibbler: (Angry) I am in command of this vessel, and it will obey me! It will! It must! I am Lord Nibbler, of the Nibblonians, and I command you to obey me!
He flexed his third eye again, and the room was filled with purple haze. When it cleared, the instruments were reading the same course as before.
Nibbler: Obey me! You must, no machine can withstand the mental power of a Nibblonian. You shall follow my instructions, you must!
Nibbler glared at the console, and the room was again awash in purple. As he strained, he failed to notice that the Doctor had turned over and was now sitting up with his back against the wall. He stood up, and put his hand to his forehead for a moment.
Doctor: Whew! That was somewhat intense! Still, it wasn't as bad as that time on Peladon. That left me with quite the headache. Now, why haven't we arrived at. oh dear.
The Doctor made that last statement as he spied the Eternian straining to make the controls heed his will..
Doctor: It won't work, you know. The controls of the TARDIS are isomorphic, one to one, as it were.
Nibbler started and quickly turned to face the Doctor.
Nibbler: Then you must take us to my home.
Doctor: I can't do that, I'm afraid. I have to save the Earth now.
Nibbler: (Despairing) Mighty one. He must be preserved, lest the universe come to an end. If it meant that the entirety of the universe could be spared by the destruction of a single planet, would you not do so?
The Doctor slowly walked over to the console, keeping an eye on Nibbler, while surreptitiously looking at Fry. Satisfied that he was unharmed, he turned his full attention back to Nibbler
Doctor: That's just it. Don't you see? All life in the universe must be treated as completely sacred. If you start to make decisions as if the lives of the many are more important than the lives of the few, then you have started down a road from which it is difficult to turn back. I know this, because for several centuries, I did the same thing. Have you ever heard of the Daleks, from the planet Skaro?
Nibbler: (Shuddering) Yes, they are amoral, evil creatures. If they were as completely capable as the brain-spawn, they would pose an even larger threat to the universe. When their sun went nova several centuries ago, it weakened them for a time, though we foresee a day when they may attempt again to conquer the universe.
Doctor: I know. I was the person who blew up that sun, and destroyed their home planet; at least I thought it was their home planet. It turned out it wasn't. The Daleks had tricked me several centuries earlier, by creating an environment similar to Skaro, on another planet. For all those years, I thought that that was their home, and when I tricked their original creator, Davros, into testing a stellar manipulator, which caused that sun to go supernova, I only destroyed a dead world. I found that out several years later, when I was captured and taken to the real Skaro.
Nibbler: But you did what you thought was right, even if it turned out wrong.
Doctor: Yes, but I ended up doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons. It's so easy you know, looking at the winds of time, going into different histories, trying to pick and choose what's best for somebody. I know what a temptation it is to meddle; I did it for centuries, and still do. You have to balance out the lives that you help, with the ones that will be hurt. You Nibblonians and your eternal war with the brain-spawn... you're just as bad as the Sontaran and Rutan empires, with their own interminable war. They don't even remember what started the battle anymore. Do you?
Nibbler: The brain-spawn want to conquer the universe! They must be stopped, even if it means.
Doctor: Yes, if it means what, Lord Nibbler? Maybe the destruction of a single planet here, or one there. How many lives are expendable in the end, hm? How many times do you decide that this is the final time you'll do this? It's a difficult question, isn't it?
Nibbler: (Morosely) I have been alive for many hundreds of millennia, Doctor. Sometimes, I simply want it to be over, so that I can finally find the peace that I want, that I need.
Doctor: I understand, maybe more than you will ever know. I've done things over my lifetimes that I'll never be able to forget, things that make me worry that I crossed a line, one that I'll never be able to step back from. You still have a choice, one that will decide the way that your war with the brains continues.
Nibbler: I understand. I hope that you, as well as Fry, will be able to forgive me. For all my faults, I truly did mean the best for him.
Doctor: When he wakes up, you should tell him yourself. If you continue to hide this from him, then he will grow to resent you when you do let him know the truth. I've found that humans are a most resilient species. You may well find that Fry, and Leela, would both willingly try to save the universe, were you to simply ask.
The conversation was interrupted by a noise from Fry, who had rolled over and bumped his head against the base of the control console.
Fry: Ow! That , what am I doing on the floor? The last thing I remember is going out of the room here, then I was looking around at some doors in this big hallway. How'd I get back in here, and why'd I fall asleep? Man, these deliveries must really be getting to me.
Doctor: (To himself) Well, at least he seems unharmed, but the Nibblonian erased a little too much. Now I'll never find my sheep. Oh well.(out loud) Fry! I'm glad to see that you're feeling better; I should have warned you that travel in the vortex can make certain people feel quite woozy. I apologize for any discomfort this caused. Why don't we get you and your pet back home now?
Fry: Okay. I just feel like I'm missing something, but I don't know what. Ah, I guess it'll come to me later on.
As Fry spoke, the Doctor looked pointedly at Nibbler, who looked down at his feet for a moment, and then stared back up into Fry's eyes. Just as he opened his mouth, the two of them heard a rude noise from the Doctor, followed by some words that had more vowels than consonants.
Doctor: (Quietly) I don't have time, I'm going to have to go ahead with my original plan.I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to try and make my idea work now, rather than later.
Fry: What up? Why can't you get me back home, and then try again?
Doctor: We've spent too much time in the TARDIS, and I've almost missed the intercept moment already. I've got only one chance to get it right, and if I mess this up, then it'll be good-bye, for all of us.
Fry: So, what're going to try and do?
Doctor: In theory, as the missile phases in and out of time and space, it still follows the same timeline. So, what I'm going to do is attempt to intercept it at a nexus that I've computed in my mind. I've dropped the TARDIS out of the vortex, and as the missile phases out, I'll dematerialize the TARDIS for just a moment, and then, I hope, re-materialize around it as it returns to normal space.
Fry: Okay, and then.?
Doctor: Well, it was just the beginnings of an idea, not a full-blown plan. Those take time, which is something we don't have enough of at the moment, even with me being a Time Lord.
Fry: That's it? That's what we've got to save the Earth with? Cool!
Doctor: That's the spirit! Now, stand by for emergency de- materialization! Oh, I'd hold onto something if I were you.
Fry picked up Nibbler and stuck him in his zipped-up jacket, and gripped the edges of the console, while the Doctor held onto a switch.
Outside the ship, the blue box hung quietly in space, though it was far from alone. The Nimbus had been monitoring the situation from the edge of the solar system, though no one expected this from the scanners.
Kif: Captain Branigan, something has in the flight path of the missile.
Zapp: What, a meteorite, or maybe, the stupendous Planet Express ship, along with the lovely Captain Leela?
Kif: No sir, it's a, a, blue box, that just appeared. One minute the area was empty and then.
Kif halted, for at the mention of the "blue box" Branigan had sat up quicker that he'd ever seen him move before. Zapp stood up and paced the bridge for a moment, then stopped and turned to Kif with a mixture of fear and elation on his face.
Zapp: Who else knows about this besides you, my trusting and loyal servant?
Kif: Only myself, and the scanner operator, crewman Tweekin, sir.
Zapp placed his hand on his chin for a moment, and to Kif, it almost looked as though he were trying to think. It was strangely unsettling. Kif was startled out of his reverie when Zapp spoke.
Zapp: (Authoritatively) Kif, I think that crewman Tweekin is deserving of some shore leave. Have him sent to Benirob 4, immediately.
Kif: , that's one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy, sir. The life expectancy of an Earthling there is less than 24 hours. Why would you want to send him to that terrible place?
Zapp: Kif, on this ship, Brannigan's law is the law, and Brannigan's law says, have him sent there immediately. Carry out my orders, now.
Kif was stunned. Zapp was lazy, callous and downright moronic, a large amount of the time. He'd managed to send thousands of young men to their doom, in part because of some idiotic view of glory that he thought he deserved, but now, he was ordering the murder of this young man, who'd simply done nothing more than his required job. Kif squared his shoulders. He couldn't let Zapp get away with this, no he was going to, to...
Kif: (Sighing) Yes sir, I'll have your order carried out immediately.
Zapp: Very good, Kif, and after that's done, meet me in the docking bay. I want to take the captain's sloop out for a spin, and I need you with me, in case I accident.
Kif shuddered, the last time Zapp had had an "accident", it taken him a week to hand-wash the stain out of that velour. Kif gritted his teeth and looked up.
Kif: Yes Captain, I'll bring along extra materials, just in case.
Zapp: Good. Meet me in the launch bay in 40 minutes; I have to make a call. Then, we're off, to outer space.
Zapp walked out. Kif watched the door close behind him, resisting an urge to raise his hand in a fist with a finger sticking up. He'd seen it in some of the older movies Fry had shown him, though no one did it anymore these days. Still, it sometimes did seem like an appropriate move... no, he'd never have the nerve to do something like that to Zapp, he was just too weak-willed. Sighing to himself, he walked off the bridge and headed for the bay. It was best that he see what Zapp was up to.
The Doctor stood at the console, his hand hovering over a switch, while Fry looked on, Nibbler safely zipped up in his jacket.
Doctor: All right, now, as the missile flies towards us... If my calculations are correct, it'll phase out for just a moment, then snap back to this dimensional plane. I'll move the TARDIS just a bit and partially dematerialize it. If everything works correctly, when I rematerialize the ship, the missile will be inside it as well.
Fry: What? It'll be in here, in this room with us?
Doctor: Oh no! I've moved the interior around already; there's a room just waiting to receive it. After that, then I'll figure out how to disarm it, or failing that, think of a safe place to dispose of it. But there should be no problems whatsoever... I think.
He turned back to the console.
Outside the ship, the blackness of space glittered with millions of stars, each moving at its own pace, but in the distance, a twinkle appeared, and grew rapidly. In the next instant, it had resolved itself into a cylinder. As it closed with the TARDIS, it faded out completely.
Doctor: Now!
He flipped the switch and the TARDIS started to move, slowly at first, then more rapidly; then it faded from sight.
The Doctor gripped the edges of the console and looked at his two charges.
Doctor: Hold on, I'm going to materialize very quickly - it may be a bit of a bump.
Fry gripped the edge of the console even harder, and there was a violent lurch. The TARDIS leaned wildly from one side to the other. After another lurch, gentler than the first, the TARDIS slowly returned to its usual upright position, and Fry gingerly let go of the console.
Doctor: Well, that's that. Now, I'll set the controls, and we'll get you back to Earth in two shakes of a cat's bell, hopefully just after we left, so it'll seem like no time has passed at all.
The Doctor stopped his banter as he saw Fry staring wide-eyed at a spot beyond and behind him. He turned around with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Fry: So, was this part of the plan, Doc? Just so you'd be able to get to it easier, or something like that?
Doctor: Oh my no. This isn't what I wanted at all. Well, I'm going to have to move a bit quicker than I originally had planned, that's all.
The Doctor said this as he looked at the ten-meter long missile on the floor of the console room next to the far wall. Suddenly, a pattern of lights flickered on the nose cone. They started to blink faster.
Doctor: Step back away from it, and grab hold of the console, NOW!
As Fry grabbed the console, the lights continued to speed up. He knew what was coming.
Fry: Goodbye Leels, I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you I love you one more time...
The Doctor worked the controls frantically, flipping a switch just as a different kind of light blossomed.
Fry's Leela had sat on the park bench for a good ten minutes. Every so often, she looked up at the spot where the police box had stood, sighed, and looked down again. This was one of the things that she hated most in the world, having to wait on something, knowing she couldn't hurry it or affect it in any way. She looked at the Doctor's companion, who had gone for a short walk on the footpath. What had she said, that her husband had been gone for a while? She stood up and walked over to her counterpart, who was busy feeding the fish in the duck pond. The Doctor's/Leela looked over as she approached, and threw in the last of the bread.
Doctor's/Leela: You know, in my old life, before I ever met the Doctor, I would have had a spear with me, and the sight of such a fat fish would have had me drooling. On my old home-planet, my tribe had to work hard to find enough to eat. When you were deemed old enough, you were sent on the hunts, and a mentor trained you in their ways. That way, you could take over for them when they became to old to work for the tribe. The Doctor has shown me so much over the years - I will always be grateful to him for that - but sometimes, I still miss my old home with the Sevateem, fighting the Tesh and living my life freely. Now, I have become a woman, with responsibilities. But I would never change anything I have done: traveling with the Doctor, living on Gallifrey, meeting my future husband.
Fry's/Leela: Wow... How'd you manage to meet up with the Doctor? You said that you weren't always a time lord.
Doctor's/Leela: No, not originally. I was from a planet some 200 years in your past. The ship my family was on was a Survey ship, but our computer developed what was originally thought to be a fault. Only later on, when the Doctor visited us for a second time, was it discovered that the computer was becoming sentient. The first time he visited us, he thought it was a simple malfunction, and repaired it using some of his memory engrams. The computer, trying to reconcile its own personality with the Doctor's, eventually went mad. It decide to conduct an experiment in eugenics, and had the crew separated into two groups, the Sevateem, or Survey team, of which my family was a part, and the Tesh, or Technicians, who stayed behind to repair the ship.
Fry's Leela: Oh my lord, how did you survive?
Doctor's/Leela: It was very difficult. When the Doctor visited us again, the Sevateem was no more than a savage tribe, while the Tesh were the computer's attendants. The Doctor realized his mistake, and repaired the computer, correctly this time. I had become his friend, and sneaked on board his TARDIS. We journeyed for several years together, until I visited his planet, and met my future husband there. We married, and were together for almost 90 years, until the invasion that the Doctor spoke of. There were several races involved in that, and one of them helped to cause the death of my husband.
Fry's Leela: I' . I don't know what I'd do if my Fry got killed.
Doctor's/Leela: nearly insane with rage at first, it was only later on, that I helped to defeat them. As a reward, the Time Lords gave me the opportunity to become as they are, and I accepted it. I wanted to help others, and it allowed me to do that for a much longer time.
The Doctor's Leela grasped her counterpart's arm.
Doctor's/Leela: And what of you? How did you manage to meet your husband? You said that you have been married for nine years now. He seems a very sweet and kind man. The two of you fit so well together, I would have guessed it was love at first sight.
Fry's Leela: Not at first. I'd been in several relationships over the years, but they always ended badly.. I guess with Fry, it was just luck, though he says it was fate.
Doctor's Leela: How so?
Fry's Leela: Well, Fry was accidentally frozen in the twentieth century, and thawed out in the year 3000. I was what's called a fate assignment officer, you know, someone to help the thawees adjust to their new life. When I met Fry, he made me realize that I really hated my job, and he seemed like a nice guy. We became friends, got a job with his nephew, and worked there for several years. My feelings for him grew, and about five years after we met, I realized that I loved him. We dated off and on for a little while, but I knew in my heart that he was the right person for me. I just let my own stubbornness get in the way for so long, I was lucky that we finally got together.
Doctor's/Leela: Let me give you some advice: Always remember to hold precious the time that you two have together, whether it is only one day or a hundred years. Even the Time Lords do not have the ability to see the future perfectly, and when you find someone that you truly love, it is best to concentrate on the here and now, because tomorrow will always bring something different.
Fry's Leela: I finally realized that ten years ago, but sometimes it's still easy to forget. Thanks.
The two Leela's returned to the bench and sat looking at the empty spot together.
Fry blinked and looked around. Hadn't they been blown up? He saw the Doctor still holding on to the controls. Nibbler was in the folds of his jacket looking up at him, and the missile was still sitting there. There was a small crack down the side of the nose cone. It glowed dimly. Fry turned back to the Doctor, who had taken a handkerchief out of a coat pocket and was cleaning his glasses.
Fry: Hey Doc, whatup? I thought we were gonna get blown to bits. Are we dead now, in some kind of creepy limbo, just waiting for the grim reaper to come along?
Doctor: (Bemused) You know, you probably watch too much television, Mr. Fry. No, as the warhead started to detonate, I slowed down the time field inside the TARDIS. Now, I couldn't stop it completely, but I have given us enough time to possibly disarm the weapon.
Fry: Cool! Well, let's get busy. All we gotta do is snip a blue wire or something, and that'll take care of it, right?
He let go of the console and started towards the missile, but as he did this, a funny thing happened. He felt like he was moving through a lake of honey. Everything had slowed down, and even though he was sure that he was walking, it felt like he was still on his first step.
The Doctor sighed to himself, walked around the console, and grabbed hold of Fry's arm. This wasn't very difficult, as Fry had almost completely stopped. Even as he touched Fry, it seemed as if time resumed flowing normally around him, and they quickly stepped back to the console. The Doctor placed Fry's hands firmly on it.
Doctor: Now, hold onto the edge here, and don't let go. If you leave the immediate vicinity of the time field around the console, you'll get stuck in time, and the longer you're there, the harder it is to get you out. Now I have to try to defuse that warhead, so please, stay there. I'm sure that your wife is already furious enough at me; I don't want her to rip me apart because you were harmed.
Fry: Okay Doc, I'll wait here.
The Doctor studied him for a moment, then nodded his head, and pulled a small toolbox out of a side pocket, along with a long, electronic-looking wrench. He strode purposefully towards the missile, but to Fry, he didn't seem to be moving very fast, as if he was in a film being run in slow- motion. The Doctor sat down next to a small panel and positioned the wrench above a smoothly-rounded bolt. There was a whining noise, and the bolt slowly rotated. It fell out, and the Doctor continued to the next one, until all four had come out and the panel rested in his hand. He removed from the toolbox a small pen-like device, and replaced his glasses with a jeweler's monocle. He held the "pen" to the opening and peered inside.
Fry looked down at Nibbler, who was looking back up at him and cooing nervously.
Fry: Hey little guy, don't worry, we'll get back in time for you watch Sesame Street. I know you like Elmo - so did I when I was young - well, at least back when I was in high school. I still wonder why.
Fry stopped when he heard a rough noise, and looked up to see the Doctor slowly perambulating back to the console.
Fry: What's up Doc? Did you disarm the thingy, so you can take me back home and I can tell Leela about all the stuff that's happened?
Doctor: (Sighing) No, I'm afraid not. It has a fail-safe device. If I were to tamper with the program, then the device would detonate; if I attempt to shut it down by destroying the hardware, it would also detonate. It's a beautiful dilemma: whatever I do to it, will cause it to explode.
Fry: So, we're boned?
Doctor: 'Boned?' Oh, well, I guess that's one way ... Hmm! I could try that; I'm not sure what would happen, but it might work.
Fry: What, what'll work?
Doctor: Well, I could find a nearby black hole, and fly the TARDIS up to the event horizon, and then dematerialize, leaving the missile in place, and fly the TARDIS away. The missile would detonate, and the tremendous forces around the black hole would keep the blast from escaping; instead, it would slowly feed the black hole for a few centuries. There's only one problem: if the TARDIS were to get too close to the event horizon, we might not escape either.
Fry: You mean, we'd get pulled in too?
Doctor: Yes. The TARDIS has nearly limitless power, but a black hole has unlimited gravity. If we were to get trapped there, I'm sure we could stave off destruction for several centuries, but it would happen sooner or later. Still, the Earth would be saved, and that's what counts in the long run, right? Time will tell, I always say.
Fry: Okay then, let's do it
The Doctor grinned and, turning to the controls, set the TARDIS in motion. As Fry watched the rotor in the middle of the console travel up and down, he heard another noise behind him. Turning his head, he saw that the crack in the nose cone had enlarged. Light was pouring out of it. Fry called the Doctor's attention to it.
Fry: Hey Doc, what's going on there, I thought you slowed down time in here, so that thing wouldn't go off.
Doctor: Yes, well, as I'm moving the TARDIS, I have to divert power to the drive engines, which means that I'm taking it away from the time field. Consequently, time in the console room is slowly returning to normal. Judging from the rate of expansion, I'd estimate that the explosion will reach us in about seven minutes.
Fry: Uh-oh, how long until we get to this black hole thingy?
The Doctor turned and looked down at the console, then back up at Fry, his face grim.
Doctor: About ten minutes.
Fry: (Stunned) You mean, that thing's going to blow us up three minutes before we get there?
Doctor: That's about the gist of it. The only way that I can get us there any quicker is to turn off all the fields in the TARDIS, with the exception of the time field here in the console room. That would possibly give us a few more minutes. However, it would leave us defenseless against any outside forces, such as meteors, Chronovores, and the like.
Fry: Well, at least we'd have a better chance that we have now, right?
Doctor: (Grinning) Well said, Fry! Yes, we always have to try, because while there's life there's hope.
The Doctor circled the console, flipping switches and twisting dials, and Fry noticed that the rotor was moving up and down more rapidly, while the room grew dark and chilly.
Doctor: There, let's see, it looks as though we've gained about three minutes. We should arrive in about five minutes, and the detonation will reach us minutes.
Fry: That's cutting it awful close, isn't it, Doc?
Doctor: Well, I'll just have to do it by the seat of my pants, as they say.
He grinned at Fry, who found that he was grinning back; his enthusiasm was infectious to say the least. The minutes counted down, and as Fry watched, the light slowly spread out from the warhead until it was almost upon them.
Fry: Hey Doc - I hope we're almost there, because I don't think we have much time left.
Doctor: Any second now, any hold on again, Fry, because here we go!
With that he twisted a knob, and as Fry held on to the console as tightly as he could, the room slowly started to tilt, then shook violently, even as the Doctor continued to quickly move around the console. Just as Fry felt as though he would vibrate apart, the room turned white, and -
Five minutes ago on Earth
The two Leela's walked back to the park bench and sat down, looking at the empty spot together.
They heard a grinding noise, which gradually grew louder, and Fry's Leela gaped for a moment as the air in front of her swirled violently, and the dingy blue box slowly materialized in front of them, finally reaching full solidity with a "thunk". The door opened, and Leela Turanga Fry experienced one of the most joyous moments of her life, as her husband stepped nonchalantly out, carrying Nibbler in his arms.
Fry: Hey Leela, did you miss -
His words were cut off as Leela briefly picked him up in a bear hug and kissed him hard.
Fry's/Leela: Fry, I love you, but you're also the biggest moron ever! Don't you ever scare me like that again, ever!
Fry: I'm, I'm sorry hon, but everything's okay now. Earth's safe, the kids are safe, 're safe, and that's what mattered to me the most.
Fry's/Leela: (Holding him still) Damn it, you can make me so angry sometimes, and then you say something like that just to remind me why I love you so much!
Doctor's/Leela: Excuse me, please, but did something happen to the Doctor? Why hasn't he come out?
Fry: Oh, he said something about a dimensional something or other, I wasn't paying attention after he opened the door.
Just as the Doctor's Leela turned to go inside, the Doctor stepped out, looking a bit frazzled, but otherwise as well as ever.
Doctor: Hello, Leela, and before you say anything, I'm very sorry, I just did what I thought was right at the time. I didn't want you to be hurt in any way.
Doctor's/Leela: You should have asked me first, Doctor. I am a grown woman, and can make my own decisions. I do understand your concern, but I am no longer a child; I never was when I was with you.
Doctor: I'm sorry Leela, please forgive me.
Doctor's/Leela: I can, but I'm not so sure about her.
She pointed at the couple next to them, where Leela had just let go of Fry, who had been talking quietly to her. She slipped out of his arms and stalked towards the Doctor, fury mounting with each step. He braced himself.
Fry's Leela: Fry told me what happened, how you didn't know he was on board, and that you couldn't bring him back before you tried your stunt. I've been waiting here, thinking of ways to kick your ass when you came back. I still want to! But after hearing what Fry said, I know you had our best interests at heart, so I won't, if.
Doctor: ...If I tell you who tried to destroy the Earth?
Fry's/Leela: That's right, so I can go and kick their ass instead! No one tries to hurt my family, I mean no one, and gets away with it. I want to know who it was, now.
Doctor: Well, I can't tell you who it was, but I can say where the missile originated. Sector 27, in deep space.
Fry's/Leela: Sector 27, that's pretty much a void, there's hardly anything there but dust and clouds. Who'd launch something at Earth from there?
Doctor: I don't know, but I'm going to go there and find out.
Fry: Well, we're going to come with you, and don't say we aren't! You can just bring us back again a few minutes after we leave, right?
Doctor: Yes, about your children, your friends and jobs? I can't ask you to follow me into what might be incredible danger.
Fry's/Leela: Ha! You should see some of the things we do on a weekly basis, and we'll burn any other crew that thinks they can survive better than us.
The Doctor looked over at his Leela, then sighed; it was obvious that he wasn't going to talk them out of it. He glanced at Nibbler, who lowered his eyes for a moment before looking back at him and nodding in the affirmative. He opened the door and the group filed inside, and then the familiar sounds of dematerialzation filled the air for a moment, before the box vanished from sight.
In another darkened control room, far away, several large figures stood around a console that projected a holographic image of Earth. A silvery hand reached over and turned a knob, and the view changed to that of space. The figures stared at the picture for a moment, before they turned as another being entered the room, one even larger than the others. It spoke in a deep, faintly distorted mechanical voice.
Figure 1: Report
Figure 2: The Doctor has saved the Earth from our weapon and is on his way towards our location. Estimated arrival time, 17.4 minutes. Soon we will meet the Doctor again, and gain revenge upon him for our past defeats. The secrets of time will be ours at last. . The other figure seemed to consider what had been said, and then raised its arm, fist clenched.
Figure 1: Excellent!
To be continued