Ch5: Not so lonely God

● 16 Century,
With the 4th Doctor.

"That's odd," spoke a tall man with a near afro of curls. He wore a dark red overcoat and a long multicolored scarf.

"If we are in the wrong place again that's basically normal at this point, Doctor, " Romona snarked, then paused the moment she stepped out of the TARDIS. "Wait... I feel it too." The young Time Lady looked up at the sky, rich and clean with barely a cloud and no evidence of smog. London was still young after all.

Sarah Jane Smith looked around the sky, not seeing whatever it was the Time Lords were looking at. She stepped out of the TARDIS with her faithful robot dog, K-4. The group of four had been traveling together for years now... or at least it felt like years, was hard to tell in a time machine.

"It's coming," The Doctor observed. "It feels like a rough one."

"Rough what?" Sarah looked around frantically.

"An echo," The Doctor informed. "A distortion in the space time continuum. Is common for new dimensions like ours. She is still developing after all, like a fetus kicking. Most of the time it is a beautifully joyous event to witness... others times it is painful and even harmful to the parent. The fact we can feel what the distortion is, so clearly before it happens, means this is going to be a particularly bad kick."

● 17 years later
With the 10th Doctor.

"I was just a little girl when it happened. The world burned in golden flames yet he stepped out of the safety of the castle. He looked out at the raging heavens and declared 'No More'. Those simple words, I still hear them so clearly. The sheer power of them. Words that even the heavens must bend to. Not the words themselves, of course not, but the way he spoke them. One man raging against the heavans. Standing before the rapture itself and simply proclaiming 'No More'... a single man declaring war against the heavens... and won. He walked away as if nothing was the matter. A smile on his face as he offered me a strange candy. He took his far stranger friends and left in his strange temple... not even allowing us time to properly thank him..." Elizabeth sighed as she relived the memory.

She was sitting in her tea room, enjoying a cup with the oddly dressed scrawny man, with his own reptilian wings and tail. Her more trusted servants stood nearby, tending their needs. It was near midnight. The servants had woken her when the blue box returned to the throne room, as they had been ordered.

"I must admit." Elizabeth found it so easy to speak to this man. Unaware why she trusted him so. He just... had a calming air about him. "When I saw the vanishing temple, heard the boys speak of the Doctor... I assumed you would be that man... I should have remembered there was more then one."

"You're aware of that." The Doctor eyed.

"I assume you are a guild of some kind. From the records past kings have been able to archive your guild's involvement in our history. I've studied them since I was a child. It would suggest you don't always do things in the right order.

"All of you have made off hand comments about things that have yet to happen, and things you lot are unaware have happened. The fact you also speak of things that didn't happen the right way but you remember the events suggest, in addition to time travelers, you are all powerful seers. As they do, the lot of you get confused what is a vision and what actually happened. The fact none of you appear to live in a linear sense makes it even more confusing for you. I image you don't just see the pass and future, like most seers. You see all the possibilities of both and it can be hard to keep straight which timeline you are in.

"A guild of the most powerful seers in the universe, acting as common adventures and thrill seekers that occasionally stumble into world saving affairs. I don't know if I should be flattered by the fact you all appear to favor my kingdom, or be terrified by the implication."

The Doctor just stared at her in near awe. Who was he kidding. It was true awe. It wasn't often a human impressed him... when they did he tended to offer them a place on his TARDIS. "You really are as clever as the stories suggest." She was under the impression that the various faces were different people but she was frighteningly close to the truth of things... closer then even the Doctor yet realized.

Still, Elizabeth was assuming there were more of them then one man with multiple faces. An easy mistake to make... though the Doctor soon learned she wasn't the one who was mistaken.

The Doctor chose to distract her. "So sad I will have to murder my boys after their little joyride."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Don't be too hard on them. They have been waiting for you to find them for 3 months now. They were most distraught but relatively well behaved for their tutors and caretakers. They did need to be taken in hand from time to time, as little boys do. Of course none short of my elven handmaid was up to the task. The boys are too powerful, both physically and magically, to react to a human hand. I doubt they will steal your temple again."

"I intend to make sure of that." The Doctor sighed, sitting back in his chair. "It's been far too long since I was put in this position, but the boys are getting older, and bolder. I doubt a time out will work anymore on it's own."

"Have you not taken them in hand before?" Elizabeth asked.

"The occasional swat but not a proper spanking, no. I thought they were too young but they are getting older. Unfortunately this is too serious an offense to ignore. They could have been lost. They did get lost. My TARDIS relocated, yes, but it didn't come back to me. I had to do a good bit of tinkering with various magical rituals, in order to get me to go to it... even then I had to leave some friends behind that I need to get back to as soon as possible."

Elizabeth frowned. "Will you leave so soon? It isn't often one of your guild arrives without a catastrophe."

"I make sure I avoid those with my boys. I leave them with their own caretaker when I go adventuring. I can be gone for months but from their point of view it was a single day, not even going into the night... usually. My transport is a bit unreliable... just how often have my Guild come to your Kingdom?"

The Doctor had few memories of coming to this time period. Especially not recent enough to be recorded into their history. He didn't really become actively known to conspiracy theorist until the 70s, due to frequent intervention with unit.

"I have over four thousand recorded accounts of your clans interventions." Elizabeth smiled. "Since the founding of The Kingdom of England, that is."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "I need to see these records."

"Strange to hear any man make demands from a Queen," Elizabeth teased.

"Oh, but I do. Something is very wrong here, and if I don't find out what, it could get very bad."

Elizabeth frowned. "If anyone else made such a claim I would assume they were being insolent... but with you I know better. The children will be sleeping for a few hours yet. If your reading skills are anything like your peers you should be able to skim through the archives before they wake."

The Doctor... was worried...

These records were extensive. Since the 900s, scholars had gone in to every area the Doctor was rumored to visit and made a secret record of his actions... the fact they did that meant there were a lot of myths about him before the founding of the Kingdom of England. Enough to get the new rulers attention and begin recording it.

The problem was... none of these things actually happened... they certainly sounded like stuff his previous regenerations would do. There were even records of future regenerations, although the Doctor was avoiding reading those... it was a big enough spoiler that he knew there WERE so many future incantations. Possibly they were just more descendants that took his name after he passed. There is power in a name after all, but he didn't want to risk learning his theory was wrong.

The biggest worry was the things he remembered happening, didn't. It was just as Elizabeth the First said. His past selves were not only acting independently but everything they did well they were connected was written out of history... everything except his first face. The original Doctor... the one who spent half his childhood on Earth and stupidly told his name to a king of Greece... the one who told the Daleks there were lifeforms beyond their planet. The one who helped liberate the Cybermen from Skynet only for them to turn against the remaining humanoid races... of course all the mistakes he made back then were in tact.

The British Empire was even aware that he was Alexander the Great. Rather it was believed the man was the creator of their Guild after he stopped trying to conquer the world...

The question was, how? Why that one and not the others. Why did the Doctor remember being the others if they weren't actually connected anymore? He remembered a completely different history yet the original doctor still happened like normal...

After checking their archive, now knowing what he was looking for, the 10th Doctor checked the TARDIS archives... and it was true. Except for his first face, the Doctor had been completely written out of history. Even the adventures of his first regeneration traveling with his granddaughter had been erased. Then wrote back in with completely new adventures.

The Doctor couldn't resist looking into what became of his companions. Most of his various companions had apparently never meet him. They had lived perfectly ordinary lives without him... aside from all of them mysteriously wining the lottery.

The Doctor smirked at that. It seemed his other counterparts were already aware of what happened.

Their other companions... specifically the ones who had been with him when each of his previous faces regenerated... they were never born. No recorded history anywhere... except with the Doctor. What happened to him, happened to them as well. They were written out of history and written back in as... something new, seemly popping out of the ether.

All the 10th Doctor's companions were still around as Boekind, meaning they must have been present when he regenerated in the history that never was. That was comforting... to an extent. He would need to track them down. The event that turned Captain Jack into an immortal never happened yet he still was, and so were all of them now.

Boekind. All his final companions were described as Boekind but they appeared to work differently from the the few in the Doctor's former universe. They were still a species of immortals, but much greater in number. They could even have children and grandchildren with that same immortality. They were a proper race and not just abnormalities in time.

They even had additional powers as well. History reported all of them aging at a snail's pass. There was even a video of an old Jack, wrinkled with age, bursting into yellow energy, then turning back into their prime like a Phoenix. There was also video of Sarah Jane Smith transforming into a humanoid Boekind with leathery wings, shining in a golden mist. Still it went further then even that. They were reported using Donna's biotics and more advanced ki techniques but also... powers over time. More limited powers, like freezing time and warping space in localized areas (a video of a bullet going back into a gun before the gun flew out of the shooter's hand). It was limited, not being able to effect more then one area at a time, but they could do it. The Doctors were reported doing these things as well, to a much greater degree....

The last companions of each Doctor had been turned into fixed points, immortals... Celestials, based on their powers... soliders of gods...

The Doctor really started panicking as he took a step back from the console.

A running theme was they Doctors were traveling with the companions who had been there when they... died.

All the adventures started just before they were supposed to regenerate, yet nothing before that was recorded in even the TARDIS history archives.

Does this mean the regenerations are truly separate entities in this new dimension... could he even regenerate?

The Doctor quickly ran to sickbay to run test on himself.

Good news... and horrible news... the old saying was true, be careful what you wish for. He wanted to be the tenths Doctor forever... now he truly would be... after hours of testing in the span of a few seconds (time machine, time is very wibbly wobbly here) the Doctor discovered he never had to worry about a new man replacing him again. His third chromosome chain was locked. He still had regeneration energy but could no longer regenerate. Instead the energy would just repair him without changing him but he had to conciousnessly use it to heal most injuries. If he died his regeneration energy would kick in on it's own and completely fix him... but he wouldn't actually regenerate.

Now the energy worked like his chakra, replenishing itself within an hour. He could still die. He would become vulnerable if he used all his energy to heal so no wasting the energy on paper cuts unless he knew he was in a safe place. His magic was even tied to his regeneration energy so if he used too many spells and exhausted his pathways he would become vulnerable. If he died then he would stay died. Of course he had enough magic in him to reduce a planet to dust so it was unlikely that would ever happen... unless he come across a villain just as powerful... which there were many... even those that could burn solar systems.

Why wasn't the TARDIS rejecting him? Or Donna for that matter? Or any of the other Doctor's companions? They were time abnormalities. She should be screaming in pain at his mere existence yet somehow she was running better then ever.

It wasn't just Danny's piloting skills. It was as if the TARDIS had more control. She was taking him to both where he needed to be but also making sure the children were safe before going on adventures. Yes, they still occasionally missed a time zone or exact location but not nearly as often... and, if the Doctor was honest with himself, the few times they did miss something was because of his own poor piloting skills. The TARDIS did still bring them where he was needed, but only when he was ready to go there... it really did have much more control.

Did the TARDIS bring the kids here intentionally? So that the Doctor could learn all this?

The Doctor figured out they were in a new dimension a long time ago but he never figured out what caused it. He didn't even notice his new limitations though.

"OH!" The Doctor's eyes widened, "That's it isn't it! It wasn't after the dimension split. That was WHEN the dimension split. The TARDIS admitted to being behind that so she must have rewrote my history. No, no that can't be it. Normally that would just cause time to rewrite itself as well to compensate. It's the whole point of the Time Vortex. Something else must have happened. Something BIG... but what?"

The TARDIS hummed at him. The Doctor sighed, "It's times like this I wish you could actually talk instead of just projecting animal-like psychic impressions." Shaking his head before leaving sickbay. The moment he reentered the console room he pet the control panel.

"Something bad is coming... isn't it, Sexy? Something truly horrible you tried to prevent. Somehow my kids are the key. That's the trouble with champions. Fate is always pulling pranks on them... please sexy... just wait until they are more grown up to handle what is coming... give me time to prepare them... can you do that for me old girl?"

There was another hum and the Doctor sighed with relief. "Thanks for understanding." He patted her controls.

He started walking towards the exit, but paused. Looking back he asked, "There is a reason I don't hurt you... why you are running better and why all my regenerations got splittered off from each other... how everything I remembered we did never happened except for my very first face... he road around in a different TARDIS back then. It's all focused on you... something... terrible must have happened... to you... Something that splinter you and your occupants apart... your the heart of this dimension. It's literal soul. The physical conciousness of the universe itself.

"You're not really a typical TARDIS anymore. It just what you are using to interact with me, all the mez... Each TARDIS holds a piece of you. The essence of the universe itself. They are your physical avatars. It's how you can be in so many places at once, with the other Doctors... you're the God of this world. The conciousness of the Time Vortex itself... At least for this reality..."

The TARDIS gave a sad hum of confirmation.

"That would make myself, and the other Doctors, your white blood cells. We keep you running. We look after the universe as we have always done... only it is more literal now... that is how I have renewable regeneration energy... why my regeneration works differently now... I... I really am a god of this dimension..." the Doctor almost begged her to deny it... but that isn't what here hum said.

"I'm an elder god. As old as you, but you're young so I'm young, relatively so in comparison to universes. I'm not yet grown into my full potential... the 'lesser' gods, like the Q Continuum and such, are older and more powerful because they aren't so deeply connected to your being. They aged the long way around, where my body is more aware of how old the universe actually is. As a result I'm much weaker then them, to the point of near mortal limitations... I hope I stay this way for a while... but it's inevitable... I really am a god, thankfully a lower case 'g'...

"Still... the rules no longer apply to me. I make the rules... Time Lord Victorious... whoever did this to me... whatever monster shattered you and created our world. They best run. I'm still the Doctor. I'm a madman with a box. Helping where I can... stopping the monsters... that will never change... because... I'm the Doctor who still makes house calls... and now there is an army of me.

"Our most trusted Companions are our Celestials, holy warriors to inact our will. Oh Donna is NOT going to be happy about that... I suppose to there is an upside. As we are so deeply connected now as long as I'm alive she will be to... we can literal travel the universe forever... thank you old girl... for small mercies... my boys aren't though. Finding them was where my timeline began for this dimension. They weren't traveling with me before... they were another gift of this dimension and so not are part of my army of Celestials... I'll have to watch them die someday..."

The next morning, after the boys got their hugs and kisses at seeing their daddy, they each got a swat to their hide with the promise of more to come.

Since living with Queen Liz the boys had gotten more familiar with "proper" spanking. That elf maid was very stern with them. She was fun... but really strict. The boys dreaded what was going to happened as soon as they were alone with their Daddy. They almost wished the Doctor hadn't found them, almost.

Once they were in the TARDIS the Doctor stayed eerily quiet as he flipped a few switches and pressed near a dozen buttons. After the Doctor pulled the lever, and the TARDIS began to lightly shake, the boys gulped as the Time Lord turned to them.

"You have any idea how worried I was," The Doctor scolded, not looking at them. "What were you thinking going for a joy ride in the TARDIS!?"

"Sorry Daddy," the boys choired but it was Naruto who built up the courage to beg. "Plesse don't spank us daddy. Spankings really hurt!"

"They are supposed to hurt. It makes sure that little boys, who can't understand the consequences to their actions, stop to think before doing something dangerous."

Spike tried to outwit the man. "But good daddies don't hurt their kids," he pleaded.

"The mark of a good daddy is not having children that run away for 3 months." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

Harry insisted, "We didn't run away! We just wanted to visit Twilight and we got lost."

"Of course you got lost!" The Doctor accidentally shouted, getting the boys to jump back with a start. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath. "Go to your rooms. Daddy is very upset and needs time to himself. I'll be seeing you shortly."

The boys quickly scampered away, all but Goku.

"Doctor..." the little boy hesitated. "I don't have a room..."

The Doctor forced a smile and spoke gently, "Of course you have a room. Just follow the boys down that hallway. You're name is on the door."

Goku didn't move. "You made a room for me?"

The Doctor's heart melted. He knelt down hugged the toddler. "Of course I did." Keeping to the rule of 3. "You are one of my boys after all. Right?"

Goku gave a shrug as he thought on that.

"Go on to your room. I just need to pick up Danny and Donna then we can talk about the fate of your bottom."

The boy hesitantly nodded and dragged his feet into the room.

Goku's room was pretty luxurious. Their was a flat screen TV and a comfy bed and lots of toys and a new phone just like Danny's. There was even a banner reading "Welcome Home"... the Doctor really went all out... and Goku ruined the surprise by stealing the TARDIS and taking it for a joy ride... then getting lost for 3 months...

The Doctor had taken good care of him everyday for a year now and he repaid that kindness by being a complete brat. Grampa Gohan would have most definitely given the boy a spanking to.

Goku sighed as he laid on his bed, just staring at his stuff and thinking how unworthy of it he was. The young Saiyan had to wait a good 30 minutes in his room, thinking to himself, before the Doctor showed up.

The Doctor looked around the room. "You weren't supposed to see this until you were ready to come with us." The man sighed. He straightened himself and walked in, taking a seat on the bed next to Goku.

"I landed us a good hour before sunset so if you want you can still spend the night with your Grampa." The Doctor offered. Goku looked down in shame. The Doctor didn't want him anymore. "Or..." Goku looked up, hopeful of what the Doctor was about to say. "You could stay with us?" It came out a question. "I was rather hopeful, when I first heard you wanted to see my TARDIS. I thought that might have meant you were ready to come with us... but if this little adventure has put you off it..." The Doctor couldn't finish the sentence.

So Goku hugged him. "I'm ready to leave," the little boy whispered.

The Doctor sighed with relief and hugged him back. After several moments pulling them apart and talking sternly again. "Don't think that will get you out of a tanning though. Either way you are getting spanked so you don't need that to persuade you."

Goku shook his head. "Grampa spanked me a few times for wondering too far from home."

"Oh so this is going to be a running theme with you?" The Doctor smirked well Goku blushed and wisely chose not to answer.

The Doctor kissed the top of his head. "I hope it's not. I love you too much to be worried like that again."

Goku's heart melted.

"Well, let's get this over with." The Doctor ruffled his hair. "Over my lap."

The boy gulped.

"Come on, You don't want to keep your brothers waiting for their turn."

'They would probably appreciate that' thought Goku but dismissed it a moment later. Waiting in here, by himself, for half an hour had been the worst. Goku decided it was just cruel to make his brothers wait any longer. Pulling down his pants and undies the boy crawled over the man's lap.

"Seems like you do have some experience with this." The Doctor smiled.

Goku didn't really have any issues with being naked in front of anyone. He pretty much only wore clothes at all because they were warm.

The Doctor rested one hand on the boy's back to steady him then raised his other. "You ready champ?"

"Y-yeah..." Goku was able to get out.

The handed almost immediately struck the tiny rear. Despite himself Goku gave a yelp of surprise. He knew he shouldn't have been shocked it hurt so much, but he always was in this position. It wasn't long before he forgot the pain but the guilt stuck with him for a while. He hated making his Grampa worry... it seemed to be just as painful to make the Doctor worry...

It wasn't too long before the little boy wiggling and kicking on the Doctor's lap. The man even managed to get a few tears with little effort. It wasn't just the spanking that caused it. Goku missed his Grampa. Their playing together and yes, even the spankings. Right now at that moment, Goku felt at home.

The Doctor would never replace Grampa though. He was something else. Something Goku never had.

"I'm SORRY, Daddy!" Goku proclaimed with full sincerity and unconditional love that only a child could feel.

The words forced the Doctor to stop. His psychic powers telling him that wasn't a slip... the boy really meant those words... all of those words...

The Doctor couldn't force himself to continue. He knew from experience that you should never stop at the first "Sorry" for the kid will think that's all they have to say to get out of spanking, but the old man with the young face couldn't force himself to continue.

The Doctor sat Goku up, being sure his sore bottom didn't touch the rough cloth of the man's pants. Then gave him the biggest hug of the child's young life.

"I love you, son. Please don't put me through that again."

Goku sniffled, then promised, "I won't daddy."

After a few more minutes of hugging, The Doctor stood the boy on the floor and fixed his clothes. "Donna is preparing dinner in the kitchen. Why don't you go tell her the good news?"

The boy titled his head.

The Doctor chuckled. "That you're staying with us."

The boy's eyes lit up with realization. He gave the Doctor one last hug before running out the room. Not questioning why dinner was being served for breakfast, time machine after all.