Elvira had regenerated. There was no doubt about it.
But something felt different this time. She still felt like herself with her busty, hourglass frame and her bouffant, beehive hairstyle. However, at the first instance that she gazed on the nearest mirror in the console room of her Type-Z TARDIS, she discovered the real difference in this new incarnation: a familiar face.
Specifically, the face of her past fourth incarnation – Cara.
"What the...?!" she cried, even her voice sounded like Cara's.
There wasn't much time to dwell on the mystery of this familiar regeneration; her TARDIS made an emergency landing, following the recent escapade that led to it. Emerging from her tall, black domino-shaped ship, she was welcomed with a fresh ocean scent and breeze to match. The sky was an endless blue that reflected off the sea below; beautiful white clouds scattered throughout. It was a stark contrast to her black, morbid attire, which was certain to frighten any locals – much like it once did in Fallwell, Massachusetts.
The locals seemed to have been too excited over something else to worry about the macabre woman that had come to their pleasant island, somewhere in the Caribbean – judging from the atmosphere.
Not very far from the cliffside where Elvira landed, she discovered a thriving kingdom with a majestic castle overlooking the vast sea. All the subjects were heading in the same direction: towards a specific shore. "Excuse me," Elvira managed to nab the attention of one – a bearded, dark-skinned man in a straw hat. "Hi there. I'm new to this place. Can you tell me where everyone is goin'?"
"You must be new," the man said with a deep Jamaican accent. "Prince Eric has finally married! To a mermaid, no less!"
Prince Eric? Mermaid?
Suddenly, Elvira was getting an idea of which dimension she arrived in. "I see," she told the man. "Would this mermaid's name happen to be 'Ariel'?"
The man frowned. "I thought ya said ya were new 'ere."
"I am," Elvira fibbed.
"Then how would ya know dah name of Prince Eric's new bride?"
Elvira shrugged. "Lucky guess."
The Jamaican didn't seem too convinced; regardless, he kept on his way, with Elvira following him and the other townsfolk close behind. They were all gathered, along with the merpeople of Atlantica that floated chest-up from the waters, to witness the departure of Eric and Ariel. The prince and the mermaid (now human) rode in a small rowboat, destined for a grand, royal ship ported a couple of miles offshore.
They were so far away that Elvira could hardly see them; so, she did the only intelligible thing and pulled out some binoculars that she tucked away in her cleavage. With it, she got a good look at the two classic Disney characters, who weren't quite the same as she last remembered seeing them.
While Eric pretty much looked a bit the same, the "Ariel" of this world was what appeared to have been a beautiful, redheaded girl with mocha-colored skin. "Neat," Elvira muttered of the discovery.
"Mind if I have a look?" requested a nearby individual whose voice she recognized. It was a kind of cultured cockney, flecked with hints of Scots.
"Doctor?" She turned to see him – the tenth of his incarnations, albeit wearing a much different outfit. It consisted of a navy-blue trench coat over a white button-up shirt, with a grey knitted tie, a brown and turquoise checkered-tartan waistcoat with matching pants, and papyrus-colored Converse shoes. He also seemed slightly older, in spite of having the same tall, slim frame and thick brown hair with sideburns. "You look...different."
"I do?" He lightly touched his scraggily face, beleaguered by a five o'clock shadow of stubble. "Not sure how, considering the face is the same as before."
"Before?" Elvira scowled.
Initially baffled by her confusion, the Doctor quickly realized, "Ah, yes! You don't know! I regenerated with this face again, believe it or not." He then looked up and down at her. "And, apparently, you have, too." He circled around her, putting on a pair of tortoise shell glasses, analyzing her. He roughly tugged on her beehive hair, seeing if it was a wig, only for her to yelp in genuine pain. "You look like Elvira...but also Cara. You're Elvara!"
She cringed at the name he christened her with on the spot. "Ugh. Is that the best you could come up with?"
The Doctor was insulted by her criticism. "You don't like it? I rather think it suits you – this new you."
"Well, I don't!" Elvara griped. "Something went wrong with my regeneration!"
"Why would you assume that?"
"Because I don't just become someone I used to be and someone that I am! I'm supposed to become a completely different person!"
"So...?"
"So, why the hell have I regenerated into two different women in one body?!"
The Doctor couldn't help but to smile at the irony. "You know, it's funny...I asked myself some similar questions when I regenerated with this face again. It took awhile for me to figure it out before something miraculous happened."
"And what's that?" Elvara asked.
Before the Doctor could say, a loud explosion resonated over the area. Their eyes turned away from each other and towards the sea, witnessing Prince Eric's royal ship blown to smithereens. Thankfully, neither Eric nor Ariel was aboard, still sitting in the rowboat, a short distance away.
The destruction of the vessel was caused by a pirate ship that advanced from a mysterious fog. Its occupants hurled a fishnet over the rails, landing right atop Ariel and Eric as if they were the catch-of-the-day. Immediately, they were hauled up and brought onto the deck.
"ARIEL!!!" bellowed the mighty King Triton, who also was in attendance for what was supposed to be a happy sendoff for his daughter. The heavens quaked as he activated his powerful trident, targeting the pirate ship that had abducted his daughter and her new husband. It was not his intention to destroy the ship but to blow a hole on its starboard side that would cripple it into submission.
Unfortunately, Triton's blast made zero contact, due to the strange, translucent forcefield that protected the pirate ship.
Elvara and the Doctor observed the bizarre turnaround with interest and alarm.
"O.K., that definitely calls for an investigation," the former proclaimed.
"I couldn't agree more," said the latter.
"Is your TARDIS near here?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I-It's with family, at the moment."
"When did you start havin' a family?!" Elvara curiously inquired.
"Long story, explain later," the Doctor rushed. "Lead us to your ship! Allons-y!"
On that note, Elvara and the Doctor ran back to the cliffside where the Type-Z TARDIS was parked. Elvara dematerialized the ship just as soon as she was at the controls, fixating their destination for the pirate ship. "I'm gonna materialize us somewhere in the cargo hold, so that we won't be noticed," she premeditated while frantically flipping switches, turning knobs, and pressing buttons.
The Type-Z arrived at its destination in no less than a second.
However, it wasn't the cargo hold as Elvara intended but the main deck.
The Time Lords were greeted with the deadly points of a dozen swords, wielded by a dozen bloodthirsty pirates. But it was the man who led the cutthroats that caught their immediate attention – a man with one of his hands replaced by a silvery hook.
Captain Hook.