Chapter 439: Allen Kicks the Doctor Back Home
After venting his emotions by slamming the TARDIS door repeatedly, the Doctor finally calmed down and began repairs.
The TARDIS had crossed through the battlefield between the Daleks and Cybermen. Being such a large target, and already in a scrapped condition, its time-lock defense field was no longer functioning. Even a single stray shot could wipe them all out.
Naturally, the Doctor wasn't concerned about dying thanks to his regeneration ability—but the ordinary people with him only had one life.
Allen, however, was an exception—he'd only die if he deliberately tried to.
But given how terrified of death Allen was, there was no way he'd ever seek it out.
"Doctor, what's this lever for?"
"The activation lever."
"Doctor, what are these buttons?"
"They input the time coordinates."
"Doctor, this—"
"…"
Allen kept asking about all sorts of equipment inside the TARDIS.
The Doctor, clearly seeing through his intentions, pulled out a crystalline panel and said bluntly, "This is the TARDIS user manual. I've already converted the text for you and linked it to your soul frequency. It's now your personal time machine."
"Happiness came so suddenly—I wasn't mentally prepared at all." Allen bashfully turned his head away.
"…"
The Doctor silently continued with the repairs.
This particular TARDIS didn't have enough time energy to sustain time travel. Simply put, it was little more than a display piece. Binding it to Allen was purely to appease him.
Vmm…
The internal systems powered on, maintaining only a basic defense grid.
Moreover, this TARDIS was unlike others—it had once possessed a soul.
But now, that soul was gone. What remained was a lifeless machine.
"Awesome, a new home!"
Allen casually kicked a half-dead Dalek, then looked at the Doctor with big, glistening eyes and pleaded, "Doctor, please save the child."
The Doctor saw the expression and knew there was no getting out of this.
Resigned, he picked up his sonic screwdriver and began repairing the mechanical Dalek.
Before long, the Dalek was back to full functionality.
"Dalek! Dalek! Dalek…"
Thud!
The excited mechanical Dalek was kicked flying by Allen, who looked down at it and said, "Pepper can, I need a cleaning robot. This critical task is now yours."
"Dalek…"
The mechanical Dalek responded dejectedly.
It had nowhere to go. The Dalek race would never accept a being that was purely mechanical.
To be precise, the mechanical Dalek wasn't even a lifeform—it was just an intelligent machine operating by old programming.
Just then, the time lock activated.
Four enhanced bone dragons carried the TARDIS into the battle zone.
The sky was filled with Daleks, while the ground swarmed with Cybermen. Both sides exchanged energy blasts across the battlefield.
Though the Daleks had time-lock force fields, those had limits. Once they failed, the Daleks became easy to destroy.
Meanwhile, the Cybermen's metal armor had evolved over the ages, now boasting immense durability.
Especially since their heads were intact and their parts modular, greatly boosting their survivability.
"Charge, boys! Head for the city ruins!"
The ruins of Gallifrey's capital were the heart of the conflict—containing hidden Time Lord technology.
When the Doctor ended the Time War, he had sealed off the city.
The external time barrier kept the Daleks and Cybermen from entering, though that couldn't last forever.
Eventually, they would break through.
Once they detected the sudden appearance of a TARDIS, both sides diverted forces to launch a fierce assault.
Thankfully, the time lock was active, forming an invisible shield that neutralized all energy blasts within a meter of contact.
Time-lock technology was, after all, the Time Lords' specialty.
"We need to hurry. The energy won't last long," the Doctor warned.
The remaining energy in this TARDIS could only support minimal operations—just a few minutes of defense at best.
"A piece of cake."
Allen opened the door and looked out over the ruined city.
He raised his hand, preparing to use a teleportation portal to cross the battlefield.
But…
Unexpectedly, it didn't work.
"Why can't I open a portal to the city?" Allen looked confused, assuming his magic had failed.
"There's a spatial sealing technology in the city—no teleportation can get through," the Doctor explained.
The Time Lords had long since mastered both time and space to the point of household application—as evidenced by the TARDIS's interior space.
"Seriously? You could've told me earlier."
Allen settled for opening a portal to the city's outskirts instead.
The four bone dragons carried the TARDIS straight to the ruined perimeter.
At that moment, the Doctor jumped down and solemnly said, "Allen, I need you to hold off the Daleks and Cybermen. I'm going into Gallifrey to reprogram the system. Once the time barrier drops, they'll try to rush in and sabotage the plan."
"Say no more, bro."
Allen agreed without hesitation.
With this many Daleks and Cybermen around, it was the perfect opportunity to max out his level.
"You guys, follow me."
The Doctor waved his hand and then used the sonic screwdriver to open a gap in the time barrier. Everyone rushed into Gallifrey.
Allen was the only one left outside, watching their retreating backs.
Suddenly, he turned to face the overwhelming enemy forces.
It was as if the Daleks and Cybermen had reached a temporary truce—united in their desire to take down the Doctor.
"If you want to hurt the Doctor, you'll have to trample me first."
Hands on his hips, Allen boldly declared, "But you won't get that chance."
A magical glow shimmered around his wrist.
Space twisted and folded around him.
Mirror Dimension Spell.
Facing a flood of Daleks and Cybermen, Allen couldn't guarantee he'd block them all. If they charged like a tsunami, some would definitely slip through and threaten Gallifrey.
Someone would die.
"Forgive me for showing off my Supreme Sorcerer side."
In large-scale battles, magic really did shine brightest.
Maintaining the mirror dimension, Allen summoned his Qilin beast and bone dragons to target the Cybermen while he focused on the Daleks in the sky.
"Biu, biu, biu…"
He fired soul talismans from his fingertips nonstop.
The barrage was so rapid his fingers blurred—like a seizure in motion—covering the sky in runes. He didn't even need to aim.
There were just too many Daleks. Any random shot would hit a pepper can.
Besides, trapped in the mirror dimension, they had nowhere to hide.
"This scene definitely needs a BGM, or it wouldn't fit my vibe."
Still fighting, Allen began humming some bizarre tune.
---
[Dalek eliminated. EXP +750]
[Cyberman eliminated. EXP +650]
[…]
---
The experience rolled in fast, and his level climbed rapidly.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and the others reached the city core.
After some complex reprogramming, the energy was condensed into a crystalline orb.
Everyone silently waited for the Doctor to finish.
"When I complete this, we'll have a thirty-minute window to escape through the time channel. After that, the entire planet will be reduced to dust by the time-energy explosion."
The Doctor's expression grew heavier as he spoke.
Gallifrey was his home. Once it was destroyed, he'd be a wanderer with no place to return to.
But to avoid another universe-wide war, it had to be done.
With the final rune inscribed, the self-destruct sequence was armed.
"Evacuate the city, now."
Everyone bolted, worried thirty minutes might not be enough.
Soon, they reached the outskirts—where Allen leaned against the TARDIS in a dramatic pose.
Clearly, he'd maxed out his level and had stopped the killing spree.
To put it bluntly, Allen wouldn't do more than he had to.
Killing more wouldn't give him bonus EXP for the next world, so why bother?
"Prince and princess, your carriage awaits."
Allen made a theatrical gesture.
"You destroyed all the Daleks and Cybermen?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.
The battlefield was eerily empty—not a trace of the enemy remained.
There had been tens of millions of them. No way Allen killed them all.
"I put them in time-out."
Allen shrugged. "Hard to explain magic stuff to you guys."
Fair enough. They didn't believe in magic to begin with.
Everyone piled into the TARDIS, which the bone dragons carried through a portal.
Allen had already seen where the time channel was, so there was no need to rush again.
But then a terrifying problem arose.
The time channel was destroyed.
Clearly, the work of a Dalek squad from earlier.
Silence fell over the group.
If they couldn't go back, they'd be vaporized with the planet.
They had no way to escape into space. Even the Doctor looked hopeless.
"Doctor, can't you fix the TARDIS?" Allen asked.
"There's no time."
The Doctor sighed. "This TARDIS needs time energy to run. But I already used the last of Gallifrey's reserves to make the time bomb. There's no reversing that—at least, not for me."
"Is there another time channel we could use?" Tony suggested.
"There might be, but fifteen minutes won't be enough to find one."
The Doctor shook his head slightly, having lost hope.
The Cybermen might've built more time channels—but finding one on this vast planet was impossible in the time they had.
"Relax, guys. I'll stick with you till the very last second. Then I'll return to my own universe. Pretty heroic, right?"
Allen was the only one not panicking.
As a max-level Taoist, he could leave any time he wanted.
Unfortunately, he could only take himself—not any living beings.
Suddenly, the Doctor stared intently at Allen.
"Doctor, what're you doing?"
Allen backed up nervously, covering his chest and blushing. "I'm a good boy—I'm not doing any freaky last-minute stuff with you!"
"…"
"No time for nonsense," the Doctor said. "We might not have to die after all."
The group, previously full of despair, lit up with hope.
"Allen, do you remember how we got here?" the Doctor asked seriously.
"You kidnapped me mid-wedding, duh," Allen replied smoothly.
"It was your time energy, you idiot!"
The Doctor lit up with realization. "I can repair the TARDIS's time engine and use your energy to jump back."
"Damn, this is the first time I've felt this important," Allen smirked proudly.
The Doctor dove into the TARDIS and quickly got to work.
In under a minute, the time engine was ready.
"Place your hands here."
He signaled Allen to touch a crystal orb.
Instantly, multicolored streams of light began to pour from Allen into the energy matrix.
"We're going home!"
The Doctor's fingers danced across the controls. He input the time coordinates and pulled the lever.
Inside the TARDIS, nothing felt different.
Outside, the machine gradually became transparent.
At that same moment, a blinding white light erupted from Gallifrey's ruins.
The Daleks and Cybermen, just freed from the mirror dimension, didn't have time to react.
The light swept across them, vaporizing them in an instant.
---
The TARDIS reappeared inside the Cyber Factory.
"We're back!"
"We're alive!"
"Feels like a dream…"
…
Their journey into the future felt surreal, yet the excitement was real.
But the Cyberman crisis wasn't over. Humanity still faced rebellion from the original generation of Cybermen.
For now, though, the Cybermen were too busy fighting for the title of Cyber Emperor to bother with humans.
"That problem's not a big deal anymore," the Doctor said calmly. "I can give you some alien tech—enough for humanity to resolve the crisis themselves."
Despite everything, there was little joy on the Doctor's face.
After all, this wasn't the universe he knew—his old friends who'd once adventured with him weren't here.
Allen casually threw an arm around the Doctor's shoulder and said cheekily, "Wanna go home? I can help you."
"How are you going to help me?"
Don't forget, combining a portal with the Gogador Ring produces the Dimensional Gate spell—opening a multiverse passage is no problem.
The key issue is that a visual reference is required for accurate location-locking.
But that's not really a problem either—the Doctor transmits visual memories using his sonic screwdriver.
Before leaving, he gifted Tony and Bruce the technology to fight the Cybermen. As a result, the Human Alliance established Torchwood Intercept, a specialized organization tasked with handling extraterrestrial threats.
First, they returned to London to find the Doctor's personal TARDIS.
Unbothered by bystanders, Allen openly cast the Dimensional Gate spell right on the street. Halos of light swirled around his hands as a space portal opened.
On the other side of the Dimensional Gate was the universe the Doctor called home.
In both versions of the United Kingdom—two parallel worlds under the same sun—curious citizens stared at each other through the portal in wonder.
"Doctor, time to go home," Allen reminded him.
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door, then turned back, eyes shining with emotion. "Allen, my friend… thank you."
"You're such a sap."
Allen winked at him.
Just as the Doctor was about to step inside, he suddenly poked his head out and asked, "Wait—how exactly are you sending me back?"
"Like this…"
Wham!
Naturally, Allen lifted a foot and kicked both the Doctor and the TARDIS through the portal.
With a loud thud, the TARDIS slid far across the ground, landing flat on its side.
The Doctor clambered out, looking thoroughly disheveled. He turned back and shouted furiously, "Allen—!"
Whatever else he yelled was lost—by then, the Dimensional Gate had already closed.
"All that fuss, I should probably head back to the human realm now. Who knows, maybe those Celestials have already wrecked the place…"