The Doctor and William were led to a yard within the castle. “Doctor, I HAD hoped to be generous,” said Doom, “given that I only wanted your decision at midnight, but now you leave Loki and I no choice.” William’s head was put on a chopping block as a bald man known as the Executioner raised his axe. “You have three more chances, Doctor.” “No!” replied the Doctor. “The TARDIS key!” demanded Doom. “I said no!” insisted the Doctor. “You’re on your last chance, Doctor!” warned Loki. “Three! Two!” “Lord Doom! Lord Loki!” called a guard. “Wakandan soldiers and King T’Challa are at our southern borders!” “What?!” snapped Doom. “My brother and his friends!” growled Loki. “They must have contacted Wakanda about our little procuring of the TARDIS!” “And T’Challa thought it would a good idea to test HIS diplomatic immunity!” snarled Doom. “Well, two can play at that game!” He turned to the Executioner. “The Doctor still has one chance left. Dr. Davies is to stay alive until my return or she resists.” “And if she still resists after his death, Lord Doom?” asked the Executioner. “Loot her corpse for the TARDIS key. Loki will identify it if you turn up multiple keys.” Doctor Doom then stormed out of the yard and towards his private jet. “…Loot her corpse?” Loki muttered to himself. “He IS aware of Time Lords changing their bodies after death?” “Did you tell him about regeneration?” asked the Doctor. “…Ah, yes, I forgot about one thing about regeneration…” purred Loki as he leveled his scepter at her. “A second fatal blow during the process kills a Time Lord outright.” “…I see you’ve done your homework,” muttered the Doctor. “Loki, Thanos would need the Space Stone AND the Time Stone to go back along your history and kill you. Do you know if he has the Space Stone?” “I can safely say he does not, but if and when he does, I’m not safe…unless I have your TARDIS. It’s practically another universe in there, making the stones useless.” “So you intend to use it as a prison for Thanos,” said the Doctor. “Exactly. And since the fall of Gallifrey, your TARDIS is the only one available.” “The old girl is capable of much more than you realize.” “…You refer to your ship as a sentient thing?” “Well, why not?” asked the Doctor. “TARDIS’s were grown and they have their own brains accompanied by all the kit in there.” “…Grown?” asked Loki. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doctor Doom arrived at the southern border to see the Wakandan military sitting beyond the border. Doom approached the border and a man dressed in an all-black bodysuit with a panther theme arrived. “King T’Challa,” greeted Doom. “I see you have decided to invade Latveria. “Oh, this is no invasion, Lord Doom,” replied T’Challa, the Black Panther. “This is a rescue operation as you have knowingly kidnapped a citizen of America.” “My dear T’Challa, your fellow Avengers seem to have forgotten to tell you that he simply followed me after trying to stop his patient from taking what’s mine.” “See, that’s the thing, the blue box belongs to the woman they were tending too. Given the nature of the box and its connections with UNIT, I have been authorized to retrieve the box and your prisoners.” “Authorized? By whom?” scoffed Doom. “The United Nations, who else?” asked T’Challa. “Here. An official statement from the UN.” He handed Doom a letter. Doom took it and read it. His eyes widened in rage. “They wouldn’t DARE!” he thundered. “They would turn Latveria into an occupied nation just to retrieve two people and a box?!” “I was surprised that America was okay with it, but all official evidence points to you kidnapping two non-Latverians and stealing their property. Now, with your permission, I’d like to retrieve them. “Permission denied!” shouted Doom. “Those two proved to be too dangerous for me to release alive! And if you send your military to my side of the border, I will consider this an act of war and slay you personally! Is that clear?!” “You can call it what you like,” replied Black Panther, “but we’re not leaving without them!” “Then it seems we’re at an impasse, T’Challa! I am correct in assuming you don’t want your soldiers to die right now?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back at Castle Doom, the Doctor pondered an escape plan. “…Loki,” she said. “Hm?” asked Loki. “I thought you were bound with a serpent dripping venom above your eyes,” continued the Doctor. “Norse myth, Doctor,” replied Loki. “I was freed a while ago.” “By who?” “By Thor, who else?” “Then Sleipnir?” “…That one is true, sadly.” Loki looked rather embarrassed. “Oof, I’m sorry to hear that. …Still, you learned what we go through.” “Oh, yes. If I said pregnancy was easy for a woman, that would be my weakest lie.” “Oh, come on!” scoffed the Executioner. “It can’t be that hard!” “All right, Skurge!” replied Loki. “Let’s see how YOU last being a mare giving birth to an eight-legged horse!” “Oh, please! Like a horse would feel pain in the first place!” William took that as his chance to get closer to the Doctor. As Loki and the Executioner argued, the Doctor and William undid their bonds and made their way to the door. “Doctor, you tell him-! HEY!” shouted Loki. That was when the Doctor and William dashed back into the castle. Loki then pulled out his comms. “Doom! Come in!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Fool!” berated Doom. “Listen to me, Loki! The Doctor is not to return to her TARDIS! I cannot promise a successful second attempt now that this incident has achieved international notice!” “What do you mean ‘international notice’?!” snapped Loki on the other end. “I mean that the UN threatened to occupy Latveria if I don’t release our prisoners and the TARDIS!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “They wouldn’t dare!” yelped a guard. “You’d better have a decent military, Doom!” threatened Loki. He ended the call. “Come on! After them!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Doctor and William searched the upper levels, but there was still no sign of the TARDIS. “Come on, old girl!” said the Doctor. “Where are you?!” “Doctor, maybe in here?!” called William as he pointed out a door. The Doctor looked through the window. “…It’s a laboratory in there,” explained the Doctor. “Let’s take a look.” She opened the door and they began their search. “Hey! Look!” called William happily. In the corner was the TARDIS! “There you are!” cheered the Doctor as she pulled out her key. “STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” shouted Loki’s voice as a green ball of energy flew past the Doctor’s head. The guards fired as the Doctor and William took cover. “How strong do you think this table is?!” asked William. “We just need it to be long enough for us to get inside the TARDIS!” replied the Doctor. They picked up the table and used it as a makeshift shield, carrying it with them all the way to the TARDIS. The Executioner raised his axe, ready to throw it! The TARDIS’ door then opened. “IN! NOW!” shouted the Doctor as she pulled William into the TARDIS. The Executioner threw his axe, splintering the table just as the TARDIS doors closed and it faded from existence with the sound of its mighty engines! “NO!” shouted Loki. The instant the TARDIS fully faded from view, Doom entered the lab. The Executioner looked between Loki and Doom. “…B-Behold!” he said, trying to salvage the incident. “The site of a glor-!” “No!” snapped Loki. “…You had one job! Just the one!” “So our prisoners and prize escaped,” remarked Doom. “…I think we all can share in that failure, considering we chose incompetent minions, wouldn’t you agree?” asked Loki. “…I will accept that,” replied Doom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “All right!” said Tony back in Avengers’ Tower as the Doctor and William regaled the Avengers with how they escaped. “Doctor, you’re every bit the genius UNIT says you are!” chuckled Natasha, now in civilian clothes. “In retrospect, it was kind of easy to get away from them,” remarked William. “Two power-mad dictators with minions less intelligent than them.” “I could have come up with the plan sooner,” admitted the Doctor, “but panic DID set in at the wrong time.” “Speaking of time,” said Tony, “Nick Fury called. He wants to add you to SHIELD’s staff as a scientific advisor. He’s got an interview set up.” “Really?” asked the Doctor. “When?” “The 15th, I think,” replied Tony. “15th, 15th,” muttered the Doctor. “…No. Impossible. I’m still fully loaded with UNIT work for the next 200 years and I have other duties spaced between them, but any time after that.” “So, you won’t be able to see Nick for a while,” remarked Steve. “We’ll just tell them you’re rather busy with other work then.” “Yes, well, speaking of other work…” mused the Doctor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the commons room, William sat in a chair next to the TARDIS, contemplating the Doctor’s offer. The Doctor arrived. “…Well?” she asked. “…You could have picked Iron Man,” replied William. “You could have picked the Hulk. You could have picked Captain America! Hell, you could have picked Director Fury! Why me?!” “Because celebrities like the Avengers are a dime a dozen,” replied the Doctor. “But people like you, people who remember the important stuff, people that can do well under pressure when the chips are down…people like you are the shining examples of the ordinary folk of the universe. …So, what do you say? A trip to the Eye of Orion? Coffee on Florana? Seeing the Seven Constellations of Pol-tosh? Or, perhaps, staying local, seeing Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous I have a Dream speech in person? Seeing the construction of the pyramids? Or perhaps seeing when you humans grow up and become a vast interstellar superpower?” William looked up, then smiled as he stood up. “You’re the pilot and guide here,” he replied. “You pick my first adventure in that awesome TARDIS of yours!” The Doctor smiled warmly as she opened the door to the TARDIS. She and William went inside, the doors shut, and the TARDIS activated its ancient engines with a mighty “Vworp! Vworp!” as it faded out of existence just as Clint Barton entered the room. “Hey, any chance-?!” he called before seeing the last vestiges of the TARDIS fade away. “…No chance then. Dammit!” Clint then headed to the bar to get a drink.