The Wizard's Guide to Timelords and Other Demons Book 1: The Forgotten War

Paradox Lost

"Absolutely not!" the Doctor protested as he stood at the main console, throwing switches and twisting knobs in a frantic attempt to calm things down in the TARDIS. "I cannot allow you to do that."

"Why?" Elise shouted back, barely able to hear the Doctor over the sound of the alarms, which had grown even louder in the last minute. An electrical short in the ceiling rained a shower of sparks down onto the floor.

The Doctor could almost hear the TARDIS moan, Oh no, not again! More explosions?

I'm sorry old girl, he lamented. He hoped this would be the last time he would be blowing up the inside of the TARDIS for a while, but he wasn't about to make any promises. He then returned to responding to Elise's request.

"If you were to make physical contact with your past self you would...well, let's just say that something bad could happen," he said.

Elise shot back an incredulous glare. "Something bad could happen, you say?" She said sarcastically. "You mean like massive earthquakes and...oh, I know...giant dragon monsters terrorizing children as they flutter about gulping down teachers?"

Elise glanced over at her other self lying in a coma on the floor next to the TARDIS main console. It gave her an unsettling feeling. Kneeling at her side was Madam Pomfrey, who Professor McGonagall had retrieved from the Great Hall, hoping she might be able to revive the young woman.

The two of them had apparated into the TARDIS just minutes ago with quite a report about what was going on outside. They were all saddened to hear of the loss of several staff members to the Reapers and were eager to fix whatever needed fixing so they could leave the TARDIS and join the battle.

Another even larger deluge of sparks fell from above, setting fire to something on the lower level. The Doctor flipped a lever on the console and the TARDIS fire suppression system extinguished the blaze in an instant. He then shifted to the other side of the console, pressed a few more buttons and stood there frowning as if waiting for something to happen. Apparently, it didn't, so he reached under the console and produced a medium-size rubber mallet, then proceeded to pound it on the control panel in front of him. The alarms ceased abruptly, and the storm of dancing sparks subsided.

"That should calm things down for a little while," he said smiling and in a quieter voice. He then turned back towards Elise, who was still staring at him incredulously.

"If you attempt to merge with your other self, the consequences will make everything going on right now seem like a...cheery Christmas party," he said.

Elise pondered for a moment as an old memory surfaced. She recalled a Christmas "party" she had once attended when she was around seven years old, where two pagan deities were devouring everybody and chastising anyone who used profanity. Strangely enough, her current situation didn't seem all that different.

"But I've already done it many times, Doctor," she argued, "and nothing bad ever happened."

"Yes, but that was before you triggered a massive temporal paradox event, thank you very much," the Doctor replied.

"So, you're saying I should have just let you all die?" Elise fumed.

"Yes!" he shouted and was met with disapproving glares from everyone in the room.

"Well, no, actually," he relented. "Believe me, I really am grateful to be alive, but what you're proposing now could destabilize the entire space-time continuum."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey chimed in with concerning news. "I hate to interrupt your little squabble, but this woman is not going to be with us much longer and I can't seem to do anything about it. So, I suggest you two figure out what it is you're going to do and get to it!" She chided.