Bird Creatures — Go home, you're drunk.
The bird creatures flew right into the small group of fandoms, only to then scramble, flying in a chaotic mess of directions once they realized that the fandoms were standing in their path. Some attacked whoever was closest — perhaps more out of fear than malice — while others just seemed to be trying to find a way through the crowd. Overall, it seemed that none of them really knew what they were doing.
Undertale — I maybe understood that reference.
"'Evil mouth-bird-monster-things'?" Undertale echoed, intrigued by the description. "Hmm… are you sure they were evil, though?" xe asked. "Or did you just assume they were evil because they were monsters?" xe added with a sly grin.
"Well… they did introduce themselves by attacking us." the Beatles commented. "Though they were just one bird at that point. A giant bird. And then that bird turned into lots of smaller birds. And then those birds turned into, uh… y'know… itty bitty crystal things." he explained (or at least, attempted to).
"'Itty bitty crystal things'?" Undertale echoed. "You mean, like… tiny gemstones, maybe?"
The Beatles nodded. "Aye. Real tiny things, though. Just thin little shards."
Well, that sure sounded familiar. Steven Universe had gemstone creature things! Then again, so did probably lots of other fandoms. And Undertale was no expert on SU. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but it was the only lead Undertale had as to what these bird things were.
And then, another fandom fell down the hole. Undertale found it difficult to be surprised by this point.
"A sinkhole, eh?" Undertale echoed in response to TT. "Hmm… well, people fall down here from time to time, but usually not this often." xe explained. "And you look like you just kind of… jumped down here of your own free will. Although, it looks like you're with them…" xe mused, gesturing towards TLC and the Beatles. "Wait, is that why everyone keeps falling down here? Are you all just following each other off a cliff like lemmings?" As if on cue, a blur of pink fur came down in front of xir, as Lion also leapt into the hole and landed neatly on his feet.
And the sight of such a familiar pink Lion made Undertale even more certain of xir earlier theory.
"Ah, I think I know what's going on, here!" Undertale exclaimed. "…Well, sort of, anyway. These bird things — and the lion, too, I think — I'm pretty sure they're, like… a Steven Universe thing." xe explained. "I mean, I'm not super familiar with the series — and I haven't personally met the fandom, either — but we have enough mutual fans that I've picked up on some things over time. I know that there's people who are all gemstones. And also, monsters who are gemstones, I'm pretty sure. And also… I think there was one character who, like, fell into a chasm in the earth at some point? There was this trend all of a sudden of people doing fanfics and fanart of that one character essentially living through the plot of my game, and I think that's what inspired it. And I've also seen a lot of fanart of Frisk and Toriel swapping outfits with Steven and… Steven's mom, I think? The really big one with the curly pink hair…"
"Anyway, uh, I think I'm getting sidetracked." Undertale stated. "Yeah, you can have this back." xe told Evan, lightly tossing the tony in his direction. "I'm not even sure what I was trying to accomplish in hoarding that thing, anyway." xe admitted. Then, turning to the others, xe continued, "So, do you guys know anything else about these bird things? Or, do any of you know Steven Universe? They might have a better idea of how to deal with these things."
Doctor Who -- Yes, the real one!
Stuck in a tiny room with nothing to do but wait and hope for things to get better — Doctor Who, Dragon Age, Fire Emblem, and a fandom that everyone thought was an alternate version of Doctor Who but was actually an alternate version of Fire Emblem, all sat around and did… exactly that. Wait, and hope, and worry. The Doctor wasn't at all happy about this situation. The Doctor was never the one who waited. Waiting was always the companion's job. The Doctor was supposed to do things. He was supposed to be the one rushing out into danger again to save Sherlock. With Final Fantasy going out there for him, the Doctor couldn't shake the fear that he and Sherlock might both die out there. And, once again, there was nothing the Doctor could do to prevent any of that from happening.
Ugh, stop worrying, Doctor. Worrying isn't going to help anyone. he told himself. Sure, there's nothing I can do except stand around and think, but… maybe I can try to be productive and think up a way out of this mess…
The Doctor still didn't know who exactly hijacked the TARDIS or how they managed to do it, but he did know that, at some point, the TARDIS must've been attacked by something very powerful (probably more powerful than a Dalek — the TARDIS is usually able to stand up to a few of those), thus activating the Hostile Action Defense System (or 'HADS'), which resulted in the TARDIS automatically dematerializing and relocating to someplace safer. This wouldn't be a problem if the HADS didn't also deactivate the TARDIS's remote summoning feature, as that meant that the Doctor wouldn't be able to call the TARDIS back to him until he physically traveled to her new location and manually piloted her from there — which, for obvious reasons, wasn't possible. They almost had a lucky break with Animorphs already being on-board the TARDIS and potentially being able to pilot the her in his place, but unfortunately, Animorphs wasn't able to fly her back to-
Wait.
Animorphs wasn't able to fly the TARDIS to the museum. But… he did fly her.
And that… would mean…
"Oh… oh… OH." the Doctor exclaimed, breaking the despair-filled silence. "Ohhhh I'm an idiot. I'm such an idiot. Good news, everyone: I am an idiot." he announced. "Remember when I said we were all stranded here because I couldn't summon the TARDIS remotely?" he asked as he used his one good arm to fish through his pockets in search of the TARDIS key. "Well, I do believe I had forgotten about a very important factor at play, here — and, if I'm right in thinking that I was wrong earlier, then that would mean…" as he spoke, he pulled the key out of his pocket and held it in the air. At that moment, the familiar wheezing sound of the TARDIS became audible, and the Doctor began to bounce with giddy joy as the group's surroundings began to change around them. With the TARDIS materializing around the fandoms, the close-together walls of the supply closet were soon replaced by the much more spacious TARDIS interior, and they all found themselves inside the TARDIS's console room.
"Yes! Yesyesyes!! It worked!! Hahahaha, we're not doomed!!" he cheered. "Ohhhh I'm so happy to see you again!" the Doctor exclaimed, rushing over to the TARDIS console and placing his hand on it. "I don't know what you've been through in the past hour or so, but I'll make certain it never happens again…" he cooed, rubbing the console affectionately.
"And," he continued, returning his attention to the rest of the group. "Now that I have control of the TARDIS again, I can use her to pinpoint Sherlock's location, and bring us right to him!" he exclaimed, poking at some buttons on the console with his usable hand. "Hopefully Final Fantasy will already be there with him. If not, we can track him down just as easily." he explained, continuing to play with buttons and switches on the console. "Haha, that's it! Sitting around and worrying never accomplished anything — it's time for action!" he declared triumphantly, pulling a large lever, causing the TARDIS engines to start up again. "Ahahaha! Geronimo!!"
Animorphs et al — The Plot Twist
Animorphs was hoping that Touhou would side with him, but apparently she just… didn't actually care at all. Which, he supposed, was better than her siding with Black Butler outright. Then again, Touhou also tossed out the idea of using a "Truth Seal", and Anim really hoped BB didn't intend to take advantage of that offer. In any case, Touhou was far more concerned with sorting out the whole ghost thing. Even though the ghost apparently wasn't really a ghost. And Touhou was apparently rather frustrated by that news and demanded an explanation from Soul Eater about what the thing actually was, if not a ghost.
"I mean… I don't really know? But like… if a ghost is essentially a soul without a body, then — well, actually, I don't know if I'm prepared to get into a philosophical debate about what exactly a soul even is. But what I do know is, ordinarily I can see souls, and I don't see anything in the amulet. So… make of that what you will, I guess." Soul Eater answered unsurely.
Then, RvB spoke up again… and it seemed like most of what he had to say was just nonsense. Oh, but he also used his "spirit powers" to "prove" that Animorphs was actually the Doctor. That was useful. Huh. I don't know why this guy is helping me out, but, sure, I'll take it!
"Heyyyyy, did you hear that?" he said to BB. "The ghost thinks I'm the real Doctor! He's probably capable of seeing past my skin-deep appearance and recognizing me as the Doctor on a spiritual level, thus proving that I'm not just some shapeshifter posing as him." he argued confidently.
"Uhhh, like I said, I can see at that level, too." Soul Eater butted in. "And, assuming the Doctor didn't go through some radical personality change recently — no, you really don't look like him." he deadpanned. "The Doctor's soul is way stronger and more stable than yours, too. You look like a real flakey guy with a lot of anxiety and trust issues."
"…I… well…!" Before Anim could come up with anything to say to defend himself, he heard the sound of the TARDIS starting to dematerialize. …Wait, what?!
Black Butler jumped back, equally confused by this development. She shot Animorphs a skeptical look, wondering if he was somehow making that happen. Animorphs retaliated by holding up his empty hands and giving her an "I don't know, either!" look. And then the two of them could only stand by and watch as the TARDIS flickered out of sight, and its mechanical wheezing decreased in volume until it could no longer be heard at all.
"…Well." Animorphs commented after the TARDIS had disappeared. "I… have no idea how or why that just happened." he stated plainly. Did I just… lose the TARDIS? Anim wondered. Something tells me the Doctor won't be happy to hear that… once I find some other way of contacting him.
Doctor Who -- Sherlock: Found!
As Final Fantasy attempted to charge at the Cyberman, the sound of the TARDIS materializing echoed through the halls — and Final Fantasy, Sherlock, and the Cybermen all soon found themselves in the TARDIS console room as the vessel materialized around them.
"Ah, good! Now we've found Sherlock and Final Fantasy and Cy- Cybermen!" the Doctor exclaimed, leaping back in surprise at the sight of the metal humanoids. FF's sword made contact with the still-functional Cyberman and created a noticeable dent in its chest, but not enough to take it down completely. "…Hold on, I have something that'll help!" the Doctor announced, before running off towards one of the bookshelves in the back of the room.
Having heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS, as well as the Doctor's voice, Sherlock realized that he no longer had any reason to continue faking unconsciousness. With Final Fantasy and the Doctor distracted, Sherlock opened his eyes and stood up — or at least attempted to, before a sudden wave of lightheadedness nearly sent him tumbling right back down. Sherlock grabbed onto the TARDIS console to steady himself. Apparently his body had not yet fully recovered from being struck with gold. This combination of Cybernetic and biological weaknesses was certainly an inconvenient one.
Meanwhile, the Cyberman rose to its feet, and prepared to strike Final Fantasy again, only for it to suddenly freeze up and let out a metallic cry of pain — slowly collapsing to reveal the Doctor standing behind it, holding a thin sheet of metal against its head. "Ok, that ought to take care of that." the Doctor stated plainly. "Now then, is Sherlock alright? Is he injur- ohhhh no…" the Doctor froze as his eyes fell on Sherlock's emotionless face, adorned with all those pieces of Cyberman technology poking out of his skin. "Noooo no no no no…" he murmured softly, awkwardly stepping over fallen Cybermen and tupperware-encased Daleks as he hurried over to where Sherlock stood, wanting to get a closer look at him. Even though it was only a partial conversion, Sherlock's new form was still almost painful to look at. "The Cybermen already got to him…" he whispered remorsefully.
"Was he like this when you found him?" he asked Final Fantasy. "Do you know how long ago this happened?" Since it's only a partial conversion, it might still be reversible… the Doctor silently contemplated. I sure hope it's still reversible, anyway…
