Only short, this. It's warranted though. If all goes to plan the next chapter will be long indeed. Enjoy this while it lasts and look forward to the next chapter I shall hopefully write and upload :D

The TARDIS door let out its usual creak as The Doctor and Amy stepped through it. The former of the two ran over to a console that he immediately began to fiddle with, moving almost too quickly for Amy to follow.

'So what is it you're looking for? And what did you mean about the universe being ridiculous?'

'What I mean, Miss Pond,' he said, twirling a brightly coloured knob and pressing several buttons at once, 'is that this planet, by all rights, should not exist. Or at least, everything that lives on it. Random chance can be a fantastic thing, but this is too fantastic even for me to comprehend.'

'Even for you?' Amy asked, with a hint of sarcastic wonder that went either unnoticed or ignored by The Doctor.

'Yes. I don't like it when I can't understand something. It makes me feel...' he looked up for a second, staring in no particular direction. His face twisted into a confused expression as the word 'unimportant,' slid unpleasantly from his lips, but he soon returned to work. 'Aha!' He shouted, finally stopping.

'Find something?' Amy asked with genuine curiosity.

'Yes...exactly what I was looking for, in fact. Take a look at this.' He turned a screen towards her, showing a picture of a brownish, boring looking planet.

'Wow. It's...a rock,' Amy observed, obviously unimpressed.

'Not just a rock, a plain rock,' The Doctor informed her, turning the monitor back to himself, and staring at it in an awe Amy couldn't comprehend. 'A boring, inhospitable rock incapable of supporting life, or even an atmosphere.'

'Right...so what's so important about this rock?'

'We're standing on it,' The Doctor said quietly.

Amy was now as confused as The Doctor. 'So how did...'

'A lifeless, barren rock, yes. And you really do have to wonder how thriving forests, cities and ecosystems appear so quickly on so lifeless a planet. But you know,' he said, fixing her with a childish grin, 'the best part of my job...is finding out.' He slammed down another level on the TARDIS' control panel, swinging the ship into life. Once it stopped, and Amy had stood up after being knocked down by the unexpected force, she fixed him with a glare. 'Don't do that without warning me! God, you'll break my neck!'

'Your honour,' spat a rough, reptilian voice, 'I have received a message from the scouts.'

The creature addressed as 'Your honour' sat forward in its slimy black throne, raising a scaly eyebrow. 'What?'

'He...is here.'

The creature in the throne raised its head and let out a cold laugh that echoed through the glistening, dark halls. 'Excellent. With The Doctor's TARDIS, hope will be restored for our dying race!'

Upon exiting the TARDIS, Amy found that The Doctor had parked it neatly-a first for him-in a dark corner of a car park in the city they had previously explored. The Doctor, meanwhile, was rubbing his hands together in glee. 'Now comes the fun part!