Dragons Rise in the Brave Tangled Tardis

It was a quiet evening in the lands of our four heroes. The lanterns had flown, the dragons were sleeping, the will ‘o wisps were nowhere to be seen, and the snow fell with a silent grace. Could things get any better? Perhaps, though all were content for the time being. Could things get worse? Certainly, but for now everything leaned towards the better end of the spectrum. Could things change? Well, let’s see...

*BANG*

Merida: Eh? What? *stands slowly and stares at surroundings* Where...where am I? *sees Jack, Rapunzel, and Hiccup (all unconscious) * Who are all you lot!? *walks over to Hiccup and shakes him roughly by the shoulder* Hey! Oi, wake up ye great lump!

Hiccup: *slowly opens eyes* Huh? Uhh, red hair... *sees Merida standing in front of him and jerks upright clumsily* Aaah...what’s going on here?

Merida:  I was gonna ask you the same question! *points at him accusingly but then sees Toothless laying down behind him* What’s that?

Hiccup: What? *turns to see Toothless* Oh, this is Toothless

Merida: *puts her hands on her hips* That’s the strangest horse I’ve ever seen!

Hiccup: He’s a dragon, actually

Merida: A what?

Hiccup: A dragon

Merida: *scoffs* Don’t be ridiculous. Dragons aren’t real, ya know. *walks over to Toothless and starts to inspect him*

Hiccup: Uhh, I probably wouldn’t do that if I were you...

Merida: Oh, will ya be quiet for just one moment? *puts one hand under Toothless’ chin* I’m just havin’ a... *Toothless suddenly wakes up and stretches his wings, he then sees Merida and growls* *Merida yells and falls over in shock and scrambles backward*

Hiccup: *jumps between Merida and Toothless and puts out a hand towards the disgruntled dragon* Toothless, wait! She wasn’t going to hurt you.

Merida: Flippin’ heck! It’s got wings!

*unknown voice*: What is that?

*Both Merida and Hiccup turn to see Jack and Rapunzel. Rapunzel is looking around in fear and wonderment while Jack is staring at the scene before him (Hiccup, Merida, and Toothless) with curiosity *

Rapunzel: Where are we? What is this place? *looks increasingly worried* I don’t understand!

Jack: What is all this? *looks curiously at control panel*

Merida: *exasperated* I don’t know! Do ye think I’d be in this position if I did?!

Jack: *eyes widen as he looks towards Merida* You...are you talking to me?

Merida: Who else would I be talkin’ to? You’re the one askin’ stupid questions!

Jack: You can see me! *grins*

Merida: O’ course I can see ya. I’m not blind, ya know!

Hiccup:  Look, I don’t know where we are but...

Jack: Can you all see me?

Hiccup: I can see you, but...

Rapunzel: Who are you? *looks at Hiccup, Merida, and Jack individually* Bandits? Thugs?  Ruffians?

Jack: Ruffians? * turns to look at Rapunzel curiously but is taken aback by the sight of her* Wow, that’s a lot of hair.

Rapunzel: *becoming increasingly worried* What...what do you want with me? *looks around for a weapon but can’t find one and starts to back away instead*Stay back! I’m warning you!

Jack: Hey, wait a second. We’re not going to hurt you, just relax. *smiles at her reassuringly then turns to look at Merida and Hiccup*Do any of you know where we are?

Merida: *crosses arms* I already told ya; I don’t know.

Hiccup: I don’t know either. *notices Rapunzel looking nervously at Toothless* Oh, don’t worry about him. *puts a hand on Toothless’ back* He’s practically harmless most of the time.

Merida: Harmless? *points at Toothless incredulously* That dragon...thing, was going to...
*sound of footsteps and everyone (including Toothless) looks towards the sound*

Rapunzel: *quietly* What...?

*the Doctor appears, looking shocked*
Doctor: What...what? *runs up to control panel and looks at a screen before looking back at Hiccup, Merida, Jack, and Rapunzel* This is impossible! How did you get in here?

Hiccup: *waves awkwardly, unsure of what to do* Hello. Um, I’m Hiccup, and this is Toothless.

Jack: My name’s Jack Frost. *looks pointedly at Merida, who looks away from him with a “hmph”*

Merida: I’m not gonna tell ya anythin’ ‘til I know where I am.

Doctor: You’re in the Tardis. My Tardis. Why are you in my Tardis?

Jack: What’s a...*struggles to remember what the Doctor had called their current location*...what’s all this then? *makes an expansive gesture around the Tardis*

Doctor: Tardis. T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. *struggles with a random gear on the control panel for a moment before running around the control panel – past Jack, whose eyes follow him with interest – to stare at the screen* I don’t understand. Why doesn’t this make any sense?!

Merida: You’re the one not making any sense!

Doctor: *looks up sharply* What?

Hiccup: What’s a...Tardis?

Doctor: *throws his hands in the air in exasperation* It’s my ship! The Tardis is my ship, and it travels through time and space, okay? *suddenly notices Toothless, standing unobtrusively behind Hiccup* Is that...? *takes a step towards Hiccup and Toothless – temporarily forgetting about their mysterious and sudden appearance* May I? *shifts his gaze from Toothless to Hiccup and back again, looking like a child asking to borrow someone else’s toy*

Hiccup: *looking uneasily from Toothless to the Doctor, mindful of Merida’s recent introductory Toothless experience* Uhh...that depends, maybe...

Doctor: *approaching Toothless anyway* Oh my, you are truly magnificent you are. A dragon in the Tardis, how wonderful!

Hiccup: *seeing that Toothless (having gladly accepted the Doctor’s praise) isn’t likely to attack the Doctor, turns to Merida and gives her the closest look to sticking one’s tongue out that one can make without actually sticking one’s tongue out* See? He knows what Toothless is.

Merida: Then yeh both mad! *matches his look, but turns away as the Doctor turns towards them*

Doctor: *reluctantly steps away from Toothless* Look, I’ve told you all where you are so, now, if you could all tell me your names...

Merida: You haven’t told us everything. How did we get here?

Doctor: *looks towards her* I don’t know. But I promise you, I will try to find out.

Jack: Well, that’s good enough for me. You already know my name.

Hiccup: And mine. *Toothless nudges him in the shoulder.* Right, sorry. Ours.

*both Jack and Hiccup look towards Merida*

Merida: *rolls her eyes and sighs* Fine. Merida. *points at Rapunzel, who is still sitting defensively against the wall* What about her then?

*everyone looks towards Rapunzel*

Rapunzel: *eyes darting from each of their faces* I...

Doctor: *speaking gently* I can’t take you home unless I know who you are.

Rapunzel: *quietly* You...you’ll take me home?

Doctor: *still speaking gently* I promise.

Rapunzel: *looks at the Doctor for a moment as though deciding whether she can trust him* Okay. My name is Rapunzel.

Doctor: *smiles at Rapunzel and extends a hand towards her. Rapunzel looks at him suspiciously for a moment before giving in and gratefully taking his hand and allowing him to help her up*

Jack: Wait a minute. *takes a step towards Rapunzel and the Doctor* Did you just say you’re Rapunzel?

Rapunzel: *simply nods in answer to Jack’s question, as she is too overwhelmed to respond in any other way*

Jack: The Rapunzel? *shakes his head in disbelief* But you’re fictional. I mean, I know I’mnot much different. But still, wow.

Rapunzel: *now feeling a bit more confident in her new surroundings* Hey, I’m real!

Doctor: Yes, yes you are, aren’t you? *takes out sonic screwdriver* Or are you? *points screwdriver at Rapunzel and starts to scan her. The strange noise and unrecognizable technology startles Rapunzel and she hides behind Jack (who happens to be the closest person to her, besides the Doctor), using him as a human shield*

Rapunzel: What is that? Keep it away from me!

Doctor: Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe and you’re all quite extraordinarily real. *pockets sonic screwdriver and looks around at all of them, grinning* A dragon, Rapunzel, and Jack Frost himself -all in my Tardis. Can this possibly get any cooler?

Merida: Oi! What about me?

Doctor: Oh... *grin starts to fade*

Merida:  Or is being a princess not interestin’ enough for yeh?

Doctor: Oh! A princess. Well that’s also interesting. Though of course everyone is important, regardless of how interesting they are. 900 years and I’ve met some pretty boring people, but none of them were ever unimportant. *smiles for a moment, lost in thought, but then suddenly clasps his hands together * So now we come to the question; how to get you all home? *runs around the control panel, locates a lever, and grins* Let’s start with the wibbley lever. *pulls the lever and the Tardis starts to move*