The Professor's Adventures - Episode 3: Wonderful Submarine? Boxing Dinosaur!

 Episode 3: Wonderful Submarine, Boxing Dinosaur!

“This should be it….” The Professor slowly screwed in the final bolt, covering the true lock of the door with a fake earth style key lock cover, smiling a bit at his handiwork. He pulled as the handle of the door, testing to see if it was still strong. Just outside, a group of universes shined brightly like stars, too close to see the scenes on their shells, but too far away to be pulled into them. Slowly, the Professor rose up, picking up the toolbox into his hand, pushing a pirate’s chest full of old tech and spare parts, pushing it over to the console. “This old chest is as heavy as it used to be….and all I did was get older and have a harder time moving it.” He pulled out a weird purple device, with a red elongated tip, and some silver dials on the side. He turns them to the right and begins to work on some of the tech along the extended bar of the console, four fishing line rollers from a fishing pole, trying them, checking the screen, as he worked. “Of course you decide to have your Check-up NOW, right when I was trying to set everything up to show him one of my favorite universes, and then I get the stall…..” He looked up to the ceiling. “You need a better way to tell me that you are having a mechanical problem….”
The TARDIS thrummed, in an almost accusatory tone. The Professor rolled his eyes, sighing a bit, before flicking a lever, the lights kick on, a little brighter than they were a moment before. He wiped his forehead.

“Good, Good….” The Professor slowly put the tools and the toolbox into the chest, pushing it into the corridor, and then looks down the corridor. “STEVEN! IT’S DONE!” He walked back in, trying to work the console again, as it goes out of it’s “reboot” mode. “Or,” The Professor thought. “She is just unsure of Steven staying on as my companion and she is stalling herself to make him leave…” He worked the console, his mind as far away as possible from what has transpired a few days ago, the Destruction of the sect of Monks, the entire top of the pyramid the closest thing in front of his eyes, rethinking that moment again and again, could there have been another way to stop it? Could there have been another way to save them?

The silence to think was not around for long. Steven entered the console room, his eyes looking around the room with interest and curiosity, before heading over to join the Professor as he worked on the console. “Is she finally working, Professor?”

The Professor smiled a bit, as he turned a couple dials, trying to get her moving again. “Yes, although she is being a big finicky. She likes to do this sometimes, when she gets into one of her moods. I still care for her though, one of my best friends in all of this. I am just shocked she chooses now to get into one of them, I wonder what is wrong…” The Professor yanked down on a lever, the time rotor began to rise and fall. He smiled, wiping his forehead from the sweat that kept pouring from his head. Working underneath the console was never a fun prospect, especially when it has just been recently used, the heat coming off of the rods connecting to the time rotor can be almost unbearable.

“Well now that she is ok, maybe we can try again. Somewhere new, like you said, Professor?” Steven grinned, looking to the screen. The Universes shone like stars, each one beckoning the young human, to new prospects, new adventures. The Professor smiled a bit. At least he has moved on from the Monk ordeal, he thought.

“…..What kind of music do you like?”

“What?” Steven turned to him, confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just something to pass the time. So, humor me, would you? If you had to say what was your favorite kind of music, from before your planet decided to fall apart, what would it have been?”

Steven slowly began to look around the console, before heading over to the jukebox, looking back to him. He began to pass, thinking about the sun-stripped wood of his home, the static filled radio with a hologram projector on it, showing the latest baseball game from the 12 colonies on Altura 9, before it would cut to one of those old songs, the singers and performers dead for centuries yet the music remained……as he turned back to the jukebox, he put his hand on the buttons, looking around at the many songs imprinted inside the glass on a little plague, the songs changing every few seconds to keep it unique, as the song began to play in his head, the picture of a submarine swimming around on the hologram projector……

“In the town…..where I was born……” Steven jumps as he hears the jukebox click, a record popping out of a slot from within the glass, a small claw appendage taking it and putting it on the record player inside and clicking on. It’s lights click on, turning to a bright vibrant yellow and shining silver, as the song began to play. The Professor grinned, hearing the song begin with those same words…

“Oh yes. That song. Beautiful Song.” The Professor spoke, the grin unable to leave his slightly older face, as he quickly changed the coordinates for their new destination. “You love the classics. Of course you would, the 60s and 70s have such wonderful Rock and Roll……Maybe even the 50s, I might count those as well…..”

“It’s just a song I heard over the radio when I was little…..The Altura Aces vs the Delta Bravos…..It was during a Baseball game….” Steven chuckled a bit, watching the time rotor moving up and down. “Where are we going, Professor, exactly? You never told me.”

“Well, Well, Steven…” The Professor spoke, looking up to his companion with a grin across his face. “As they did say, a long time ago…..We all do live, In a Yellow Submarine.”

SOME TIME LATER…

The interior was barely lit. Pipes hung from barely attached screws, with dents all through them, water dripping from a couple of the more damaged pipes. Wires swung in the air like jump rope, Sparks jumping between them, trying to power back on the destroyed submarine. The Console which ran it was completely smashed in, dents from what looked like punches dotted across the controls, sparks from the main screen fly from it to the ground, showing power was still getting to it, for all that it was worth. Eventually, the dripping water and the sparks were droned out by the sounds of the TARDIS beginning to land in a puddle, the loud noises causing enough vibration to cause a couple of the pipes to drop to the ground and roll away, leaving more water to drip, as well as what looked like seaweed to drop to the floor, soaked with water.

The echoes of music pours out of the TARDIS, as the doors fling open, and the Professor slides out on his knees, playing an air guitar, playing a version of Johnny Be Goode, almost wanting to go full on 60s with his clothing before deciding against it, his eyes shut, lost in the music. Steven however, was shaking his head, slowly stepping out, looking utterly confused at the settings around him, before looking back at the crazy man doing air guitar in an abandoned looking submarine.

“Professor…..” He said, but his voice was drowned out by the music, the Professor just kept on playing the air guitar, going on and on. Steven sighed.

“PROFESSOR!”

“WHAT, WHAT?!” The Professor stumbled, falling to the floor, looking around as the TARDIS doors slammed shut, the music cutting off. “Oh.” He began to look around, slowly standing up, dusting himself off, looking at the state of their surroundings. “Oh this isn’t…..Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Steven walked over to the controls of the submarine and sighed. The controls were unsalvageable. “I thought you said we were going to the Yellow Submarines….That we would see one!”

“I did! And we are!” The Professor cried out, looking around at his surroundings before returning his look back at a frustrated Steven. “We just landed in a crashed one, is all. But I am telling you, we are inside one of the famous Submarines!”

Steven looked around the surroundings, pushing away a broken pipe with his foot, almost completely defeated on the inside. “I thought it would look……different….”

The Professor chuckled, joining his friend, standing next to him, looking at their surroundings as the water kept dripping nearby. “Yeah, I have heard that quite a lot. People don’t think that their favorite songs or worlds that they know could be any different than how they see.” Slowly, he put a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “But. We are here now. Let us explore, and when we find everything we need, and when you are ready, we can leave.”

The two smile, Steven’s sour mood starting to fade from him, as they examined the control room of the beautiful yellow submarine. Problem was; however, something was out to ruin the lightening mood. As the two examined the broken console, a loud bang echoed behind them, from within the dark room which stretched to what felt like oblivion. With barely any light to the place, the walls around them slowly faded into solid black, the machine parts, piping, wires, and panels followed suit, as the darkness beckoned them to explore. Steven slowly turned, walking closer to the darkness, looking around, trying to spot anything in the void. “Hello?!” He called out, looking into the void, slowly moving closer, before the Professor grabbed his arm, fast, like a viper. He slowly pulled out a tiny looking penlight from his jacket pocket, eyeing around, and then activated it to check for himself. He took a sigh of relief when the darkness was easily passed through with the small light, shining on some wires, fried and almost smoldering.

“Good. Good…” The Professor wiped his forehead, eyeing out into the dark room. “No bones…That is good…”

“Bones?” Steven looked confused, slowly peering into the room. “What did you think happened here, Professor?! Bones?!”

“Steven Lesterfield. If you have seen half the things I have seen that live in the dark, hoping to see bones is the nicest thing you could hope for. The Best-Case Scenario.” Slowly, The Professor and his now very nervous companion took their first step into the room. The very floor groaned with their weight; the metal having rusted over the water dripping from the pipes.

“I am sorry, Steven, in advance…” The Professor said, as the two moved across the floor, listening to the cracking of the floor in order to dodge any holes that may be in the floor. “If I had known we would have landed in a crashed Yellow Submarine….”

“Don’t be, Professor….” Steven added, peering down into a hole. Wires flailed around, detached from control panels, sparks flying from the end of the wires, hitting against motherboards and other pipes, lights at the far end of the room flickering as a result on and off. “At least we were able to find-“

A loud Roar echoed down the room, shaking through the ship. A terrifying roar, bouncing through the halls like a boomerang, stretching out from the other side of the vessel. The two quickly fall silent, heading for the sound, as they begin to hear something banging against the wall, again and again, almost like a hammer nailing a nail into the wall, if that nail was already drilled through the wall.

“I think we found out what caused all this damage…” The Professor whispered, as the two slowly snuck over to a door, in a cramped corridor on the submarine. The door is smashed to bits, hanging onto the wall by mere splinters and broken hinges, leaning against the other side of the door frame. “Steven, you might be getting an extra visitor….”

“Oh Wonderful to hear Professor…..” Steven responded, listening as the wall kept being pounded on, almost to the point that the wall should be beginning to collapse at this point. “From what it sounds like, we are being visited by one of those species on Earth, large muscled, giant fists……Gorillas?”

The Professor rolled his eyes a bit, before the two slowly peered inside the room. It was a very confusing sight if there ever was one. Four People lay against the ground, one of them barely stirring, badly beaten up and their clothes torn, like they were in one heck of a fight before they ended up here. All of them men, looking like they are either Steven’s age or a little older, what left of their clothing showed what look liked engineer’s uniforms, Shining blue with three yellow bars on each of their shoulders. What caught their attention more, however, was the creature on the other side of the near-empty room. It’s bottom half was that of a dinosaur, the legs of a T-Rex, shrunken down of course, It’s green tail as long as a Triceratops, and the almost lime green scales shone in the low light. It’s upper half was even more unnerving. A Human half, it’s hands boxing gloves, It’s face stuck in a forever smile, It’s eyes wide open, no eyebrows, no hair, and it’s head almost came to a point on the top. In a fit of rage, it seems to be punching the wall again and again, the wall itself dented and cracked but isn’t seemed to be breaking……But to their horror, as the Professor and Steven looked. The windows weren’t being so lucky.

Episode 3, Part 2: The Minosaur’s Rage

The windows began to crack and bend due to the pressure this creature was putting onto them. It hit them again and again, trying to bust itself out of the metal prison it had found itself into. Outside, The Professor and his traveling companion watched with horror as the Creature slowly turned its attention back to it’s captives, hitting at them to wake them up.

“Professor….” Steven spoke, trying to control his volume, less he gets the attention of the creature hitting those defenseless crewmembers. “What the hell is that thing…”

“I’m not entirely sure myself…” The Professor whispered. “It looks like one of the creatures from the video of Yellow Submarine, but it almost looks…Modified. Those things usually are timid, only swing when something gets close or something tries to attack it first. This? It’s just swinging punches, It’s trying to drown the ship, it doesn’t care who or what it breaks or hurts!”

Steven shivered, his eyes focusing back on the creature as it began to turn it’s attention to the wall behind it, ramming into it 2, 3, maybe even 4 times, causing a large dent inside the wall. “Professor, what are we going to do….I think it wants out of it’s self-made cage…”

“Hmm?” The Professor slowly looked into the room, seeing what looked like oil begin to run out of the dented hole of the wall, and the creature shaking it’s head, trying to get the substance off of itself. “Oh. Oh dear. Well, that will be a horrible problem to deal with if that happens…”

“YOU THINK?!” That instantly rose Steven’s anger, with that kind of reaction. Here was this man, basically seeing something destroying what is keeping them safe, and he just brushed it off like Rain hit his face!  “Professor, This creature would DE-“

The Professor quickly covered his mouth, smiling, hiding him away as the creature slowly stuck it’s head out of the door, peering around where the loud noise came from, before returning back into the room. “We must be careful, Steven, remember?” He nodded, as he slowly leaned him back to see the oil substance running out of the wall, and the creature rubbing his head on the bedding to try and get it off.  “It hates liquid. The wall is just pouring out oil, probably created from one of the machines out in the engine room. Which means that the engines are still going, power just isn’t reaching out this far out.” The Professor grinned. “This is going to be really, really fun. Come along now.” As fast as they could, the Professor and Steven rushed down the corridor to try and find the engine room…as slowly, a little orange bird hopped out of the room to watch the two, and begun to tweet, catching the attention of it’s creature owner.

Meanwhile…

The TARDIS began to groan from within it’s very systems. The Console room’s lights begun to flash back and forth, sparks flying from the time rotor. A panel shoots off the wall, wires began to droop out of the hole, causing sparks to go flying from the hole in the wall. The Cloister bell began to ring from deep within the TARDIS. The metal hands of the TARDIS began to try and return things to order, as shadows began dancing around the flying sparks, causing more and more destruction, ducking back under the doorframe when the cloister bell began to deepen, the TARDIS in full repair mode.

Back towards the Engine room…

The Professor and his young companion rushed as fast as their legs could carry them down the hallway of the small little submarine, the loud bangs and gongs from the pipes above them began to echo more and more as they reached a single double door before them. The door shone a lucid green, the lights behind it began to pulse more and more as what looked like green slime began to leak out of the very cracks of the doors, bubbling as it passed under the doors and reached past it, turning almost sticky, like newly made honey.

“Professor…” Steven said, slowly walking over to the jelly slime substance on the ground, watching it bubble and solidify on the ground before them, almost forming a spider web pattern as it scatters. “I may not be a scientist, but that does not look healthy in any shape or form...In fact, that looks like something that should be pouring out of one of those ancient nuclear reactors….”

The Professor slowly took out a small stick from his pocket, joining next to Steven, and almost like a child, began to poke at the jelly slime under the crack of the door. That same stick hit one of the bubbles, causing it to pop, causing more of the slime to fill the hole left from the bubble, almost like the door behind it is like a dam holding this stuff back from pouring down the corridor. The Professor slowly poked at it again and again, each moment ticking with another bubble popping and the slime just running out from below the door. Finally, he lays the stick down on the spider web jelly, causing it to almost twist and bend at the tip, and looked head on at the door in front of them. “Nutritional Fluid.”

Steven’s eyes slowly went to the door, watching it slowly bubble and spread across the floor, as the Professor slowly used the stick to open the door, slowly pushing it open. The green fluid was chained across the opening, as the two peered into the engine room. The Engine was shining, light pulsing out of it like a mini sun. around it, tubes and consoles lined the walls, most of them either shining green like the jelly, or turned brown. One however, was smashed to ribbons from the inside out, the jelly still coming out of one of the pipes from the top of the tube. The Professor sighed, pinching his nose before he slowly began to enter the room, trying to keep his feet on clean spots, as he peered into the tube.

“My, My, My…..” The Professor whispered, looking into the tube. “So here’s where you slept, our dear boxed friend….”

Steven tried his best, hopping from hole to hole free from the green liquid, looking at a couple consoles as he joined the Professor’s side. Each one read something, from Failed, to Destabilized, to even Implosion, every one of them sounding more horrifying than the last. “What were they doing in here, Teach…….”

“Welcome to behind the Scenes, Horror Movie Style, Steven.” The Professor took a step closer, running his finger on thin air, following the shape of the tube as it reached the floor. “The world has to fill in the blanks, and this is what we are given. They were trying to bring back a species into the universe. While that is a beautiful goal, sometimes they like to go overboard. You ever seen what they tried to do with the Dinosaurs on an island out in the middle of the sea?” Steven slowly shook his head. “No? Ok then. Well all I’ll say is this. They tried to modify the creatures, they crashed, one broke out.”

“The Creature we saw guarding those people….” Steven sounded more and more horrified with every word. “They did that to it….”

“Exactly.” The Professor slowly looks into the tube, watching the green slime pool at the bottom, drops of it splatter against what remains of the glass. “Probably thought they were helping it. Humans think that way sometimes, that they can improve it, help it live, survive. Can’t blame it, Probably found it hurt and suffering.” He slowly puts his hands on a glass shard, and it shatters to bits. “And then it went more. Make it better. Make it so it can’t get hurt. More and more it goes, cloning gets involved, slight DNA meddling, and then finally the creature is no longer the one they helped but now a creature they suffered themselves.”

Steven covered his mouth in sheer shock and disgust. “But…..But why?”

“Who knows what the reason is now. Right now we have our friend in that room tormenting the people who made him like that, and I am getting the feeling we cannot meddle in this story for much longer.” The Professor shivers, holding his head a bit. “Especially given the large creature that’s here on this ship. Come along, Steven, back to the TARDIS. This is where we have to-“ As the two walk for the door, they slowly look up at the door. Steven’s eyes go wide. The Professor sighs. “Go…….Oh…..”

The Strange creature stands at the doors, slowly pushing more and more into the room, the doors groan from the rust caused be the green slime left on the doors, before breaking, falling onto the ground, and the creature walks in, sniffing the air, before its eyes lock onto the two men, slowly beginning to growl, a little bird lands on its head, watching the two.

Steven’s eyes are locked onto the monster, watching it, slowly looking from side to side, trying to find a way out. “Professor…” Steven spoke, trying to look for a way out of the room for them. “Professor, what do we do….”

The Professor slowly eyed back to the other tubes, full of green or brown slime, the sound of the creature growling filling his thoughts, as he takes off for one of the other pods, the creature taking off right behind him.

“PROFESSOR?!” Steven Yelled, as the Professor dives behind one of the pods, the creature trying to stop before he smashes into the glass, the brown slime pours out from it, mixing with the green, fire instantly lighting along the line where the two slime colors mixed, the Professor giving a thumbs up as the Creature yells out angrily, backing away from the fire, blocked off from Steven and the Professor.

“Simple Chemical Reactions, Steven! Simple Chemical Reactions! NOW RUN!” As Fast as their legs could carry them, The Professor and Steven Bolted out of the engine room, pulling along with them slime trailing behind them, fire alarms begin to blare, water blasting down the hallways, hitting the slime, causing it to steam and smoke up.