Eight

Chapter 8 in which something happens...

Sleep, sleep, what is sleep? Sleep is a lie.
Okay, I might have gotten a taste of it, maybe, for an hour. Cuz hey, I got an hour.
On the couch.
I would've gotten the other seven, but I had already been up forever and by normal standards, it was too late to crash. I don't necessarily like snoozing while the others are awake, cuz Lord only knows.
They might kill eachother, or everyone else, or me, or the T.A.R.D.I.S., or the universe, har har.
It's not funny, I'm serious.

IDK if it has to do with us being in a time machine or what, but my boys are late-sleepers.
It was pushing to noon by my time and they were still slumbering away like beautiful little evil princesses.

After getting a few things from my room so I could camp inside the living room- sorry, I mean, control room? bleh.. I peeked into their rooms and experienced a special 'aww' moment for each.
Master was huddled into a ball with no blanket, his hoodie removed and placed, folded, next to his pillow, and he flinched every once in awhile as he dreamed.
I moved to Moriarty-- the scraggly Irishman's arm was hanging from his bed, and he was snoring like a hibernating bear, his blanket covering most of his body.
I buried my hand into my popcorn bucket and munched quietly, before deciding to move on.
Joker laid flat on his bed, one arm over his face, the other dangerously clutching...a knife.
I sighed silently as he presented no real entertainment and turned back around, when-
"Who's there?"
His usual high-pitched, deep voice mumbled.

I didn't bother looking back.
"Tooth fairy. Go back to sleep."
He growled a little, but eventually faded back to unconsciousness. 

Lastly, there was Bane.
But well..I soon realized that not only did the man not eat..he also didn't sleep.
Just as I opened the door, my whole body winced as I saw him fully awake, and hurriedly brought it back to a slit so I could at least peek.
Bane, unaware of my presence, sat on the edge of his bed, hunched over, his elbows propped atop his knees. He stared at the wall ahead of him, completely emotionless.
His eyes were in their usual half-narrowed state...I could only imagine what he must've been thinking.
My face saddened...while he intimidates me a severe amount, Bane...well...there's something about him that makes me sad. I don't know what it is.
But I did know that I didn't want to disturb him any more.
So I backed away and proceeded down the hall.

Yep. Those are my companions.
All four of them completely screwed up...buy hey...TBH, I'm just as screwed up.

And as a means to be charitable to my dysfunctional little screwed up family, I decided to be charitable.
I went out and got groceries. And cuz I was getting tired of getting everything from the template thing, I got us a kitchen table. When I got back, I set up some chairs, placed the table near the couch, straight across the front doors, and dallied on over to the kitchen area.
Twas wonderful having the living room, kitchen and blah blah with the control panel all in the same place.

An hour passed and breakfast was just about ready when I heard sounds finally come echoing from the halls. My huns had come out of their caves.
I perked and swung around, "Morning, my beauties! ♥"
All except Bane grogged and stumbled into the area, scattering into different directions.
Master was steadily putting on his hoodie over his shirt, yawning, Moriarty was tightening his tie while rubbing his eyes, Joker stretched and cracked his neck, playing with his suspender straps, as Bane meanwhile began pacing and clenching his hands into fists.
"It's the afternoon.." Master muttered under his breath.
"We're in a time machine, it can be any time I want it to be."
Oh boy, typical, our morning was starting in sass.
Can we even.

Joker approached the stove with a lowered brow and a pouted lip.
"What's all this?"
"Breakfast, of course!"
"What the...." Master snapped his head to me, then the stove, then dashed for it to get a closer look.
"You did what?!"
"You cook?" Jim gasped, his mouth turning into a solid O as he seated upon one of the bar stools.
I sassily grabbed my spatula and began scraping up the scrambled eggs.
I was a tad offended that this was taken as a surprise.
"Course I cook...why does that seem so impossible?"
"Because..well...you're tough?"
"My father is one of the most aggressive men I know and he cooks just as well as my mother."
He was silent.
"Why in the--" I casted Joker a look just as he was about to speak in a manner he knew I would not approve of. He glared and seemed to bite his tongue.
"--holy nutrition would you make us  breakfast?"
I slumped. "Well....." Handing Jim the cups, who looked confused, I clapped my hands and ushered him along to fill them with milk for us.
"I thought......since we're gonna be traveling together and all..that..why don't we get comfortable with one another? I've become more settled here, starting last night..and making it feel like home is better for the mind, honestly. Besides...who else is gonna cook for you boys? Certainly not the ship."
Pop
I glanced over at Master, who's arms were crossed, him listening.
"Do you mind?"
He lifted his head and brows, tiredly and a bit surprised, and sniffed, soon standing to go and retrieve the toast. I had already set up the table for the lot before they had awoken, so I gestured for everyone to take their seats, as I went to bring the food.

Seconds later, James, Master and Joker all took their own seats around the table that glistened from being so new and pretty. Only Bane sat on his own at one of the bar stools, away from us.
"Pass the salt." Jim uttered, as he saw me coming with the egg pan; I poured a good, hearty amount onto each of their plates and they looked generally pleased.
"Huh...it smells delicious."
egad, an actual compliment from the Joker, record this.
"Thanks, bruh!" I replied, sweetly, as I returned to the stove, clumping around the area with my slicky boots.
"Don't forget the bacon, boys, you need your meat."
"You spoil us." Master croaked, followed by a sinful little grin.
Before I knew it, they were already at work, stuffing their faces like hungry little rats.
"ack ack!"
..They froze.
A couple of them had their silverware hovering away from their open mouths, but all three were staring at me, horrifically. I shuffled over to them and properly took my seat.
Then bowed my head and closed my eyes.
I immediately heard groans and a fork was dropped onto a plate with a clang,
"oh god, not again.." Master uttered.

I shushed him.
"Father, thank you for this food-" "-YOU made the food."
I stabbed his hand with my fork.
"-Thank you for providing it for us, that it nourishes us and strengthens us. Please protect us as we go out on our next adventure, that we'll, ya know, not die or anything...in Jesus' name, I pray..amen."
I snapped my gaze onto each to make sure they wouldn't make any unpleasant comments, but they said nothing, surprisingly, and eagerly returned to their food, snatching the bacon from the bowl I brought.
my word, they're pigs.

There was silence for a few more minutes until Joker abruptly turned to Bane, who was quietly watching us from his stool like a hawk, one arm resting on the counter.
And suddenly he put his hand up, curling it into a fist to resemble Bane's mask, and I dropped my own fork, wanting to kill him for mocking him.
"So what's THIS about?!" His high-pitched voice muffled, in a very cheap imitation of the brute.
Bane shifted.
"How do you eat?"  Master joined in.
(yeah seriously, how DID he eat? I'd been asking that question for two years, yo)

But Bane merely turned around and faced away from us, clearly offended by the mockery.
The three sagged in disappointed, as I sat solemnly, watching my masked companion.
So they all turned to me, instead.
Joker flicked his head toward Bane's direction, hunching over his food like a vulture,
"How'd he get like that??"
I merely looked back with sad eyes. I didn't answer..neither did Bane.
There was more awkward silence that made me shift, uncomfortably.
"Eet yer ood." said Jim, his mouth unattractively full.
I lowered my eyebrows at him for a brief second, "I've been thinking."
"Well stop it right now."
I stood, ignoring the hoodlum.
"We didn't necessarily get off right, did we? You kidnapping me and all...made things a bit awkward and complicated."
They all cut their eyes at one another, then back to me.
"Annnddddd??" Master muttered.
degenerates.
I turned at them, with a hand planted sassily on my hip.
"Annnddd, I think we should introduce ourselves more properly! Just, ya know, approach eachother in a new respect." I was given weirded out expressions.
"That's stupid."
"You're  stupid." I rose a finger, with a quick smile. "I'll go first!"
There, I skipped over to the door, opening and closing it..I swung back around and suddenly jolted with a super exaggerated expression of shock and surprise, gazing wondrously at everything around me with my huge, widened bright eyes.

"Whaaaattttttt...oh.my.SNICKERDOODLE, it's a T.A.R.D.I.S.!!"
I threw in a stagger, "I can't believer it!! WHAT is this doing outside of fiction?! This is defying every law, you naughty time machine, you! Shame, shame!"
As I spotted the boys, I started to gape like a fish and jump up and down.
My expression got even crazier as I pointed.
"NO WAY!! *insert intense fangirl screams* FICTIONAL CHARACTERS?! Get out!!!  And villains, no less!! PINCH me, I'm DREAMING! Here, lemme have a panic attack to make sure!"
..I was kidding, of course.
Twas only mockery.
I approached the table and jumped to the Master with a single stride, a huge grin on my face, and I outstretched a hand. "Sarah Demens, pleased to meet chya!"

Master moved his unimpressed eyes down at my currently ungloved hand, giving it the strangest of looks, unamused and unconvinced.
I frowned. "Play along."
At this, he sighed, stood up, straightened his clothes, took my hand and shook it.
My grin bounced right back up.
"I am the Master..."
He did a little bow with a smirk, finally getting into the spirit, and stood straight again.
Then he took my hand, brought it to his face, and gave it a soft kiss.
"Very pleased to meet you." *insert a wink*
Tink was spot-on. He was definitely a flirt.

I retracted my arm and turned to the others, coming up to Jim and Joker, flailing my limbs like a chicken.
"And you must be-"
At this, Moriarty sprung up and approached me reaaaaallll close.
He grinned with his adorable face and wiggled his hand for a shake.
"Jim Moriarty. Haiii."
"Hello.." I said quietly, backing away as he seemed to look right through my soul.
"Very nice to meet ya."
"Mmm, I must say, the Character Queen's a lot prettier than I imagined.."
I scrunched up my neck and cleared my throat.
Moving on.
Joker humored me the most by shaking my hand, bowing, and stiffening up, soon circling me like he was a lion checking out his prey. "Hello, beautiful..you can me- the Joker."
He stood in front of me, and slightly stroked the side of my head, which gave me the shivers and the frightens. "THE Joker?" I pointed, then looked rather sarcastically pleased.
"BIG fan. Wonderful to finally make your acquaintance."

Last was Bane..I did a little laugh as I got close.
"You must be Bane! I've heard a bunch; you're taller in person, good sir! Very dashing!"
I shook his hand and he merely nodded, in respect.
"Well my gee, willy wilkers, it must be fate that I've found you! I have an idea..now that I'm here, how about we go adventuring?!" "Well hot dog, sounds like a plan!" Joker said with glee.
We all humorously emitted an utterance of ecstaticness in accordance to our new plan.. even Bane.

After this was done, I felt satisfied.
I grinned, excitedly at the lot, then returned to my food.
Sitting back on my chair, scooting it into the table, I dove into my meal all perky like.
"There, see? Don't chyu feel better now?"
"no."
"Wonderful, me too! ♥"

I started devouring, slowly and properly, despite how hungry I was, and it was killing me.
It obviously showed, though, since I noticed the boys were staring at me with slightly suspicious smirks.
I got the message, and very soon went full-on Sarah, dropping the mannerly act and stuffing my face like a hog. Oh, how glorious it felt to even eat like a Viking. ;)

Not long after, though, I was distracted;
Bane suddenly rose up, went to the medical cabinet, pulled a small bottle out along with a syringe, and walked to the stove to prepare a plate...for himself...
He scooped up the remaining eggs, picked up a toast, poured a glass of milk, then moved to us, snatching a couple of bacons from the bowl, and finally returned to his stool.
His food was laid before him, him taking a deep breath, as if now preparing himself.
Then he opened the bottle, took the syringe, extracted the contents, and in a blink..injected himself.
My brows popped up, and my mouth, as well as my fork, fell.

After a swift little grunt and a few minutes of him breathing painfully, stifling the coming groans and hisses..he pushed the syringe and bottle aside, and...unexpectedly...began to remove his mask.
I was staring so intently, I forgot to breathe.
I also failed to notice that the boys, too, had been watching Bane's little dabbles..
and we all widened our eyes as he finished unstrapping the mask and took it off.
His skin was exposed in places we'd never seen.
As he sat the thing down, he took a few long, powerful breaths of air and gripped onto the edge of the counter, his shoulders heaving.
Very soon, he recovered...he glanced a little over at us, very careful not to reveal his face, then turned his attention back to his food.
At last, he pulled up his plate, and his cup, leaned in in a more respectful posture, his arms huddling around his meal..then picked up his fork and dug in.
I almost slunk right out of my chair.

I know he's a ruthless villain with barely any morals to save a chicken, but poor Bane!
I wanted to cry, yo. ;_; I felt almost guilty sitting there, eating my food, which inevitably made me lose my appetite, and my head sunk.
"Oh..........so that's  how......."
Joker stared awhile...his face expressionless.....before he finally turned back to his own meal, with not even a shrug of concern. Jim and Master soon did the same, both equally as unfazed by the matter as their clown companion. They were so freaking cold, I went from sad to mad.
But I kept it to myself.
Always keeping to myself.
You have no idea how many times I have had to do that in this life.
Just a bottled up little pickle, always...... my appetite returned, and I ate in silence.

Master was just about done. So to avoid further awkward silence, he began talking, playing with the tips of his flattened bleached hair. "I'm contemplating changing my hair color. Very drab now..needs a change."
I nodded, half-heartedly. "That'll work. Back to brown sounds good to me..just keep the facial scraggles and the hoodlum look. They suit you."
"I agree." Joker mumbled, after gulping down his milk and licking his scars.
That's  a first.
"Oh, really?" Master poked.
"Yes. They actually made you more attractive."
"You think I'm attractive, eh?"
"Don't go there."
He chuckled.
Jim sniffed, "I think I'll go blonde..."
"DON'T YOU DARE." I yelped...but he only laughed, the jerk.
Master half-smiled. "So you do  prefer dark-haired blokes."
"That's no secret."
He bit his lip. "Ah, then maybe I should hold off on the hair change...don't want you chasing me around, giggling like a schoolgirl.."
"When have I ever  chased anyone around, giggling like a schoolgirl? LET ALONE GIGGLE?"
He looked away, with an 'I don't know' expression on his handsome little face.
I then gestured at Jim, "This man walks around freely and I have every chance to claim him as my own like a savage..I mean...look at his face."
Master glared at him, in disgust. "...I don't see it."
"Well you're not a girl." "He looks more like a rat to me."
I was offended for Jim, who's face fluctuated in insult at the cruel old Timelord.
"Well you  look more like a dead monkey." "Oh boy..."
"Hold on a minute, what are you getting at with 'look at his face'???"
Master turned his head at me, suddenly perplexed. "Are you....are you saying he's more ATTRACTIVE than I am?!" I slunk in my chair. Busted.
He gawked. "Well, answer!!"
I slunk more.
Jim threw his finger up at me excitedly and laughed in obnoxious triumph.
"HA!!! I KNEW IT!!! SHE LOVES ME!!"
"I SAID NO SUCH THING."
"YOU LOVE ME, YOU LOVE ME!!"
"SAY NOTHING, YOU SWINE."
"HE IS NOT  MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN ME!"
"YOU'RE STILL ON THAT?!"
He looked horrified and betrayed. "Is that really your opinion?"
I scrunched up my face, trying to not give in, but I inevitably made a so-so gesture with my hand.
"ehhhhhhh, he's.......a little  more......."
His mouth fell and he shot up straight in his chair.
"THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN MY OPINION, DON'T HURT MEH."

He was clearly at a loss of words and baffled and shocked and highly offended, and things might have actually stopped there, but I just HAD to re-open my stupid big fat mouth.
...Which actually isn't that big or fat, it's rather tiny....
"I mean, it's always been, ya know, Jim...Bane...you.." I instantly bit my tongue.
He slammed his fist on the table, shaking everything on top of it.
"WHAT?!"
Jim, too, shot his head at me, in surprise.
I shrunk into a peanut.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU THINK BANE  IS BETTER LOOKING THAN ME?!"

I was this close to covering my ears.
I flailed my arms as a poor attempt to save myself, "But have you SEEN Tom Hardy?!"
"I DON'T KNOW YOU." "I'm sorry!! Geesh, you're taking this WAY too personally!"
"This is an insult!" Master yelped, hoarsely.
"This is disgusting." Jim moaned, dropping his fork.
"This is hilarious." Joker cackled, bending back in his chair.
I hid my face, wanting to hide all of me.
Master and Jim sat back, with disturbed expressions embedded deep into their faces, as if their worlds were shattered. oh gosh, what had I done.
"Boys, please, you're all pretty."
"Not according to you, Miss Bachelorette."
"Hold on now, that is my honest opinion! I'm not no uppity ditz that just judges a person's look all day long! Don't pretend you lot don't do the same as me!"
"Don't speak to me." Master uttered, turning his head away.
ugh
"Guys, guys, don't be mad at the kid." Joker waved his hands at them.
".......She's obviously just got the hots for me."
I nearly busted out laughing, which probably would've gotten me killed.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm not attracted to him in the slightest, actor or otherwise.

Master and Moriarty glared hatefully at him.
"I wouldn't put it past her now..."
I had started a war.
I half-expected them to start trying to out-pretty eachother, just to prove something to themselves.
And that is where I slapped my forehead.
"Can we just get off the subject and pretend this conversation never even happened? You're all pretty. Deal with it." "Now that I think of it, I do remember seeing her list of crushes on her blog, and you two happened to be on it!" "I hate chyu, too, Joker."
"As I recall, Moriarty was the first." His grin at me was sinful. He was reveling in my torment, the demon.
Master dropped his fork and tossed his arms up.
J's head rolled to Jim and Jim's head rolled to me, his eyes darting and penetrating my face like arrows.
I swear, giant hearts had replaced his irises.
I wanted to die.
what is the quickest way to die.
I held my aching head, "That was a long time ago..."
"It was one of your recent posts."
"Stop tALKING ALREADY."
He only laughed.
These boys sure know how to put me in murda mode.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Master began to look devious and sly after pondering on something.
"....A crush....I'm a crush..."
I nearly slid out of my chair as I hid my face. i hate the internet.
"You  crushed on us?  I never..."
"I hate you all." I squeaked.
"What an honor." Jim spoke dreamily, with the biggest smile.
"This is not the type of conversation I want to have, why."
"You started it."
"That is the last time I compliment anything."
"Face it, darling. We're destiny."
"Someone hand me a gun."
"She even had a tiny thing for Bane. Even Pan."
They laughed at me, those bad words.
"She certainly can have a poor taste in men."
"YOU HAVE A POOR TASTE IN MEN!" I desperately snapped, with an accusing finger.
They only laughed harder.
Stop talking.

"What's next, she's in love with Gollum?!"
"Or Darth Vader?" "I thought Bane WAS Darth Vader."
*cue death glare from Bane to Joker*
"Or Sherrrrlock?"
"Or the Doctor?" Master gagged.
"EW, NO, I ONLY LIKE TOUGH GUYS AND BAD BOYS."
I thrashed my head. "I MEAN TOUGH GUYS, I'M TRYING TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE BAD BOY APPEAL." My hand slapped over my mouth, wut ded i sae

"Good luck with that, love." Master winked, the fiend.
"I personally always imagined you with a wimpy little blonde kid who always needed protection."
"ShutupJoker."
He licked his scars.
"Well that's not who I end up with, so tough!"
"Who, then? Me?"
"NO."
"Me?"
"NO!"
"ME?"
"NONE OF YOU!"
"Then do tell."
Don't tell, don't tell, don't tell, DON'T TELL.

"The guy I end up with is amazing and beautiful and sweet and heroic and loves me and you lot have NOTHING on him." This was my funeral.
I hid my face.
"Ah-ah!" Master chirped, not having any of it. He sat up straight and pointed at me.
"Details, I want all the details. You're the one that brought this up."
WHY WAS ALL THIS BEING PINNED ON ME?!
I wanted to cry.
Instead, I slumped my shoulders. "........................remember how I could have, um...those dreams..and like..see things?"
"You don't say." Master smacked the back of Joker's head, and looked back at me.
"Continue."
I sighed, frustratedly. "Well...for about four years now..I've been dreaming about someone..he has dark hair...and pale skin..bright eyes..couldn't quite see his face clearly, but I know he's a handsome fella..and he protects me, and..er....loves me..."
This was so awkward..
"Ya kissed him, didn't ya?" J interrogated, leaning in.
I bowed my head in shame. ".................................once."
Him and Master mockingly went 'aww' at this.
i will kill.

I peeked my eyes at them, darkly. "Don't mock, I'm serious."
Jim shifted in his chair, not seeming to want to poke fun at the matter.
"Sounds more like just a little fantasy.." "It's not.  I've dreamt about him multiple times since then. I can never see his face, OUT OF ALL FACES, and every time I have dreams about him, it feels real and makes me feel safe. I don't get that way with anything or anyone else. I've seen things in dreams and they end up true."
"Welllll, when you find him..if he exists...let us know."
"...I think I already have."
Jim swiveled his head, Joker darted his eyes and Master rose his eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah?"
I shrugged, uneasily. "yeah.."
"Where? How?" J spoke, skeptically.
I was shriveling up like a shroom. "..the day you kidnapped me...there was a guy watching me.."
It was here that their smiles began to slowly fade.
"..And then that night..at Pizza Hut? He sat in front of me and told me to run.."
The three gave uneasy glances at one another.
Something was wrong. Their smiles had completely vanished..in fact, they now seemed rather weary.
Threatened. On the edge.
I frowned, discouragingly. "What??"
Their eyes returned to me.
Bane, in the meantime, had already put his mask back on and was facing us, looking rather antsy.

Master abruptly leaned in, lacing his fingers together like a mob boss.
"Did this bloke have black hair?"
I widened my eyes and jerked my head back. "Y--yes...."
"Bright emerald eyes?" Jim hummed.
"A careless attitude?" Bane spoke for the first time.
"Pretty little white boy?" Joker bobbed his head.
"Dressed a lot like you?"
My face flushed, "What are you guys getting at?!"
They went silent.
I slammed my fist down. "You know something! Tell me!"
More glances. They tried not to look at me, but failed.
"Now."
Joker cut the silence, "That same punk found us the day before and warned us to stay away from you."
My heart stopped.
wut.
My eyes fell to the table, my mouth falling with them, and I tried to speak words...they wouldn't come out.
W...wh....why would he.....
"He wasn't too fond of our intention to kidnap you."
Gee, I wonder why.............
So...he was...looking after me??
"...When....??"
"..The night before."

..Well..things became clear now.
He wasn't stalking me. He was protecting me. He was making sure I was safe.
But the question still remained...who the heck is he?
"So you still think he and your dream man are one and the same, do you?"
"What else did he say? What's his name??"
Moriarty scoffed at my persistence. "Never gave it..we were about to kill 'im, but he was a slippery one. He got away too quickly."
In that instant, a chill ran up my spine--my blood felt warmer than usual and hands curled into fists.
I suddenly found myself shooting right up.
"YOU WHAT?!"

They all stared at me. Some in shock, others strangely.
Joker squinted. "We were...gonna..kill 'im?"
Flames were starting to burn in me and I didn't know why.
I felt something boil inside and I became sick to my stomach.
"And if we catch him again, we're finishing what we started."
"You keep your filthy mitts off of him."  I snarled.
More staring.
Master shrugged, "Why?"
"Do NOT touch him."
He looked challenged and got all sassy. "Who's going to stop us? YOU?"
"You touch him and I swear, I'll kill you."
Why was I getting like this???
My muscles were shaking, I was getting so angry. It made no sense.
"OOooooohhhh, I think we might have struck a nerve, boys."
BUT WHY?!
I didn't know this dude from Adam! I didn't even know his name!
And yet I was on the verge of murdering for him. I was willing to go against my own companions to protect him. WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HE, A WARLOCK?!
"Calm down, kid, you'll have a heart attack."
As if charming me like I was a snake, J had coerced me to take my seat again and I sat back down, slowly, desperately wringing my hands to get them to stop quivering.
My mysterious anger had subsided..

"Whew....what was that  about?"
I stared down at the table.
"....Are you...upset  by this?"
J smirked over at me. "...She is....look at her...she started acting real weird when we mentioned him..."
Jim started bending his fingers in and out. "Don't know why...he's nobody.."
I felt a spark again. "At least he didn't leave anonymous chat messages on my blog like a creep and sneak into my room and fool around, playing all sorts of mind games just to get my attention."
"Actually, we never set foot in your room, or go anywhere NEAR your house, for that matter."
I swallowed....

"Why didn't you tell me?" "Didn't think it'd be a big deal, since we didn't do it."
"No, about him...you never told me about him."
"Easy..he wasn't important."
"He's pretty freaking important, if he's trying to look after me. What'd you do to him??"
"Wha'do you care?"
"TELL ME." I screeched.
They all jolted.
"That was the last we saw of him......"
Joker sniffed a laugh. I shot my eyes at him. He looked suspicious.
"You're getting awfully touchy...over someone who's probably evil and all."
"He's not evil, you idiot." "You sure about that?"
"HE ISN'T."
"Wowwww, we DID strike a nerve. Look at her face."
Master and Moriarty got a closer look. "That's the reddest I've ever seen you."
"You look like a cherry."
"Shut up." I tried to once again hide my face with one hand..I only became more shocked.
I had risen in temperature, my face feeling hot. It was difficult to swallow, and I was once more feeling sick in the stomach. My heart even raced irregularly. I didn't understand anything.
Why was I reacting like this??
It made no sense.
I attempted to take long steady breaths to get myself back on track.
Once I began to drop in temperature and my mysterious anger hid back deep inside of me, that's when a chair suddenly scraped against the floor as it pushed back and my body jolted only for my eyes to make contact with the approaching clown.
He knelt down beside me, looking to be trying to entertain his own mischievous musings.

There was unnerving silence as I awaited to see what he had planned, until his words set me off again.
"I think we should kill the kid."
I gripped onto the edges of the table and shook intensely.
"..or maybe not."
Like clockwork, I swallowed and eased.
...what was he doing...
He gestured for the others to watch, as if I was a new pet performing tricks.
Then he rose a brow, "Your face is ugly, I hate your hair, you talk too much."
My head turned..no effect.
"I'm gonna cut Mystery Boy, piece by piece, as slowly as possible, and make you watch."
As if under a spell, I whipped my head back at him and went dizzy as my heart raced, blood started to pump and I vibrated, uncontrollably. He shot his head back and laughed, maniacally and horribly.
"AW MAN, you got it BAD!"
"Got WHAT bad?!" I exclaimed, sounding like a complete idiot.
J pointed at me with a thumb, looking at the others.
"Demens here has got goo-goo eyes for that punk!"
He was toying with me! That cruel little parasite!!
He laughed one more time before abruptly standing up straight, cracking his back, looking serious once again. "We'll definitely have to kill 'im now."
Once again, I sprang right up and started yelling like an angry bear.
I felt possessed. "I swear to God, if you hurt him, we are DONE! You understand?! DONE! I will kill every single one of you if you dare come near him!"
It wasn't funny this time. Nobody laughed.
Master merely shifted. "Why are you so defensive of him? He's clearly evil."
"The only ones evil here are YOU, ya morons. I don't care if you kill me, I'm not letting you hurt 'im."
"He's obviously our enemy."
"He's only your enemy cuz he was standing up to you. He was probably worried you were here to kill me. So he's not my  enemy."
"He's a threat, I don't like 'im." "I don't give a crud. You're not touching him. EVER. If he walks through those doors, I'll make sure you four treat him as nothing but a friend."
"He could be a SPY, you idiot."
"That's hilarious, considering that one of y---" ...I didn't. I left it alone.
"....If I find him innocent, he's welcome here. You understand?"
They all sat, uncomfortably.

There was much more to say. So much more.
And I was about to say it.
That's when life had other plans.
And when I say life-- I mean the T.A.R.D.I.S..

The ship suddenly threw us all off balance in a massive jerk, as we felt it begin to shake violently, lift up and take off..despite no one touching a dang thing.
I shot my head over at Master, who scrambled to his feet, yelling, "WHAT THE *BEEP*Y *BEEP*?!"
He dashed to the control panel and attempted to gain back control.....but my heart shriveled at what I saw.
He couldn't.

It jerked us around from side to side, then every other side and angle- this way and back- and I frequently found myself hitting it's walls and yelling at it, as it's thunderous engine roared beneath us and spun uncontrollably. What. the. HECK.
"Is it POSSESSED?!" I shrieked, being thrown onto my back two seconds later.
"That's what you get for praying in my agnostic ship!" Master scolded.
"If anything, vessels and appliances are neutral, you twit!"
"AGH! Whatever! Get over here and hold this switch down!"
I zipped over to him, which proved to be a challenge in the jerking time machine.
"This one?!" I gestured at the one next to him.
He thrashed his head, "The other one!"
"THIS one?!" I moved my hand to the one underneath him.
He nodded, "Hold it, good and tight!"
So I held it good and tight. And it was a challenge.
The T.A.R.D.I.S. was resisting and screeching upon our fight for control.
It was clear that no matter what it was trying to do, it didn't want us to interfere.
Upon realizing this, I began to loosen my grip and looked up at the Master.
"I think we should leave it alone!"
He flashed angry eyes at me. "Are you mad?!"
apparently you are.
"Yes!  But that's not the point here! The more you struggle, the more IT struggles! I think it's trying to take us somewhere and you're messing up it's plans!"
But as the Master persisted to pull on the controls, the ship began to roar even louder and retaliated by increasing the temperature, causing valves to pop here and there from the sides and smoke started to spray out as the room flashed with red.
I jumped. Good lord, it was having a hissy fit!

Just as it became clear that the Master wasn't about to listen to me, only giving the ship a worried gaze, I rushed behind him, grabbed his arms and yanked him backward.
It threw him off guard enough for me to seize the chance and secure his arms to infront of him.
As he was yanked away, the ship's controls snapped back in place and we jerked forward..
until a few seconds later, after a rush in a straight direction, we came to a full halt.

I breathed. We had landed.
When we were both calm and had sucked in a wad of relief, we simultaneously looked at eachother.
I rose a brow, "See? You were upsetting it."
I honestly expected a thank you or a bit of praise for saving us....but no.
He lowered his own brows, then jerked out of my grasp, swiveling around to face me.
There, he got a little too close and shoved an authoritative finger towards my face, like he was about to talk down to me. "Do that again and I'll knock your skinny *beep* clear across this room. You don't touch me, ever. Understood?"
For a split second, I felt powerless and obedient, like some sort of tiny bug about to be squished.
And I looked up at him with big eyes, rather pitifully and sadly.
But my true nature knocked itself back into me and I abruptly straightened myself back up, knocking his arm away from me, which took him by surprise.
He stepped back as I stepped boldly forward.
"Try it and I'll break your arm. You  don't touch me."
He merely swallowed. Obviously..he still didn't know me very well.
My eyes flickered over to the monitor as a gesture, then back at him.
"Where did we land?"
I couldn't tell if he was concerned by my assertiveness, or impressed.
Either way, he slunk away from me and directed himself to the monitor, where he hunched over.
"Give me a minute.."
He briefly cut his eyes at me as I began to walk away, my gaze still on him like ice.

When I got far enough away, I turned my attention to the boys. They were slowly rising from the floor, their eyes turning to me as I stepped down towards them.
All was still in the T.A.R.D.I.S.. It seemed to have fixed itself, too.
The smoke had ceased, the red light had vanished, and any damage that it had inflicted was repaired.
Apparently, if you don't let it have it's way, the ship becomes suicidal.
If you comply, it patches itself together again.
Holy tacos, our T.A.R.D.I.S. is a manipulator.

"Well that made a fat lot of good sense, didn't it?!" I kicked at it's metal.
"Tearing yourself apart to get your way?! Really?!  I'm younger than you and even I  think that's childish!"
The others all huddled close to me, as I shook my head, staring up at the ceiling.
Bane laid a land on my shoulder and my gaze gravitated to him.
"Are you hurt?"
I shook my head some more, "Nah, we immortals endure. Are you guys alright?"
He slowly nodded and backed away a step, head pointed to the floor, as Jim sniffed and shrugged his shoulders, rubbing the back of his neck. "A little sore...have an injury on my mouth...maybe you can-"
"No."
I immediately turned to Joker. "How about you, ol' boy?"
He rolled his arm, holding his shoulder with his other hand, the most pained expression I'd ever seen on him plaguing his face. For once, I felt a little bad for him.
"Think I dislocated something."
I hummed and hurried to him like a worried mother, "Lemme help."
But he shooed me with one hand, backing away a step, "I got it."
"Oh, don't be so stubborn. If it's dislocated, maybe Bane can pop it back in place."
Joker's eyes suddenly widened.
I looked to Bane, who looked to J, who looked to him.
Bane then stepped toward the clown and waved his fingers for him to come.
"Come."
See?

Joker was hesitant, at first..but by the second call to come, "Come.", he shrugged and started ahead of him, still holding his injured arm. "Eh, I've lived a good life."
hardly.
Bane proceeded to follow him, the two going a slow, steady pace across the room.
I watched them walk away until my mind drifted back to Jim.
"Is there anything ELSE hurting? Besides your made-up injuries?"
He tapped his forehead. "Bruise."
I cut my eyes to the so-called 'bruise', then looked back at him and made an unimpressed face.
Nevertheless, I lifted myself up an inch and gave it a kiss.
This made him jolt in surprise, obviously not expecting me to indulge him.
"There, all better."
He quickly hid his face to avoid revealing his tiny smile.
I chuckled and turned, "Status report, Master!"
"Give me some tIME!" "Don't be sassy!" "D'uugghhh....."

"..gently..gently.." I heard from across the room.
Then suddenly, "OWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!"
I slapped my mouth to contain the laughter. Jim rushed back to my side.
"What are you doing to the clown back there?!" I exclaimed.
"Please  tell me you're killing 'im!"
"WATCH IT, HALF PINT." Joker squealed.
Jim and I broke into simultaneous laughter.
I took a quick glance at Master, who was staring at the monitor rather intently, as if reading something.
What he was reading was an obvious mystery, but he didn't look happy.

A clearing of the throat drew my eyes back ahead of me to see Bane trailing behind a groaning Joker, who was now holding his arm with a major grimace.
He got up close to me and made a face, "I hate you and your ideas."
I couldn't help but smirk, "You're welcome."
I dared death and patted his head. But he didn't seem to mind.

"Got it."
All our heads moved to Master, who stepped down to our level, looking expressionless.
My curiosity was at a high.
"Got a location??"
He nodded after a minute, placing his hands in his hoodie's giant pocket.
"yeah.."
I turned my head a little, still looking at him. "Is ittttttttttt...GOTHAM?!"
I sprung so quickly and so excitedly, I nearly tripped, as I bolted to the door and swung the metal hunk wide open. I was blinded by light. I sunk. I frowned. I closed the door.
I returned. "I'm not having fun anymore."
Jim scratched his head, "Not Gotham, eh?"
I made a face.
"It appears the T.A.R.D.I.S. has mucked up again, and taken us to another random world."
"Well it's no where I  recognize."
Joker scoffed, "You looked, for like, two seconds!"
I scoffed back, sarcastically, bobbing my head. "I'm just that good."
"That makes sense she doesn't recognize it..it's not a world any of us would know."
I turned back to Master, "This place displeases me, why are we here? Where IS here?"
Master sighed and propped up his hood, starting off.
"I'll tell you on the way."
"On the way what way? Out THAT way? What is the way? Can you say?"
"Just come on."
I frowned at him...then followed. "Pushy."

- to be continued -