This is the first story in my linking series. This is the mini adventure that kick-starts some of the biggest shocks in The Doctors life.
It stars Rose and the 10th Doctor, set roughly around the time just before (a day to a week before) she gets stuck in the parallel universe for the first time.
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Strange Behaviour
The Doctor
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"So where are we today?" Rose asked him leaning against the console.
"Earth," he replied. "Hopefully in Taupo, New Zealand, 2148."
"New Zealand?" Rose said sounding slightly confused.
"Bungee jumping! They have the best bungee jump on earth, this time and place. Well over 400 hundred meter jump, it's like your flying then the next thing you know your jumping higher than the frogs on Paravel. It's marvellous fun, you're gonna love it." Rose giggled when he grinned at her, and taking her hand he led her out the door.
He was rather disappointed when he stepped out. It wasn't Taupo… though, it wasn't far off.
"Darn," he said looking at his watch and then about at the scenery. "Right time, right country… I would say we're three hours shy of our destination."
"You can tell that just by looking about?" Rose said sceptically.
"No, this is Hawkes Bay," he said pointing to a sign. "Everyone knows Taupo's only a three hour dive away." Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Oh well, let's make the best of it shall we?"
"So is there anything fun to do here?"
He thought for a second trying to remember anything about this place.
"Let's see… Fruit, apples, lot's and lot's of apples, I love apples. Festival of blossoms, no that's only once a year. Oh! Splash planet!
A hundred and fifty years ago it used to be a small attraction called 'Fantasy Land'. It was old, wasn't quite bringing people in so they turned it into a water-park. Used to be tiny, but now it's eight times as big as it was."
"So, togs then?"
"Togs," he confirmed heading back inside.
After grabbing his swim-shorts and a towel for him and Rose, he waited for her to come out. It took a few minutes but finally she came out wearing a sundress over her bikini. He couldn't help but smile, quite frankly she looked stunning.
"Well, what do you think?" she said shyly gesturing to her clothes.
"I think you should wear dresses more often," he told her. She gave him a look and he could almost hear her say is name in exasperation. "What? You should. If you want more conformation I could say that you look pretty, cute, beautiful, gorgeous, striking, stunning, lovely… I can go on." She still just looked at him. "Rose Tyler, you look fine!"
?...DW…?
Since they didn't have a car and it was quite a walk from where they were, he very carefully landed the TARDIS as close to the park as they could.
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The second they stepped out, the first thing they saw was a huge castle like structure towering into the sky. From the towers sprung all sorts of looping hydro slides. It looked like 'Wet and Wild' had crashed with medieval times.
He smiled seeing Rose's awed face and taking her hand, started walking to the park.
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But before they could go more than a few steps a strange impact in the air made them stop. Accompanying the impact had been an odd sonic like pulse. It had no effect on him, but beside him Rose gasped and doubled over. Immediately he stooped to help her.
"What was that?" she gasped.
"I'm not sure, some kind of sonic pulse," he told her. "Felt funny didn't it?"
"Not really, that felt horrible," she said straightening up. "Oh my god!" she suddenly cried looking over at the playground near by. "No stop!" she yelled out. "Don't do that!"
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Over on the swing a girl who looked to be about 12 was swinging way higher than the swing would allow. Every time she swung up, she would fall so hard and jerk at the swing, he was surprised her neck wasn't already jarred. She was almost swinging right over the bar.
Then all of a sudden at the height of her swing she jumped as high as she could. She went soaring, way up, then with a sickening thud and crack, landed on the hard ground.
Running over to her they saw that her leg was badly broken, as a matter of fact the bone was sticking out of the skin. If the girl was in pain she wasn't showing it, she actually had a huge grin on her face.
"I've always wanted to do that!" she told them excitedly. Then she swayed a bit and blinked rapidly, her face contorted in pain as the adrenalin rushed from her system. Just as she let out an ear splitting scream an old man in a medic uniform rushed over.
"Another bloody one!" he grumbled. "This one is the third bloody jumper today!" he told them as he gave the girl some strong pain killers and began to straighten and splint the leg.
"Third? Wow, that's a lot… just a question. What's going on here, and what was that strange noise?" The Doctor asked as a man ran by singing a Disney song at the top of his voice. He was tempted to join in and could see that Rose didn't know whether to look confused or to start laughing.
"Don't know about no noise," the old man said. "But somethin's goin on here. The air changes and all the younguns go mad. Everyone from this age here," he gestured to the girl, "to people in their forties. They just do the strangest things. Dangerous things, silly things, you name it. When we started getting 10 calls an hour from this place a few days ago we stationed a permanent ambulance. But soon the young medics were driving it around town with the sirens blaring like it was some huge joke!
All these people, hurting themselves… they only ever say one thing. That it's something they've always wanted to do. Then they seem to snap out of it an wonder how they ended up with a smashed skull. Already been four deaths."
"And it's only here?"
"Everywhere around that damned park for 'bout a hundred meters. They say it's the park, that it gives you everything you want. Some people are actually flocking in instead of runnin' for it. Especially today. It's the park's hundred an fiftieth birthday. People have come from all around the country to see some of the new rides."
"Right then," he said standing up. "Rose, what do you think about seeing the new attractions then?"
"Are you mad?" the old medic cried.
"Pretty much," Rose told him. Then the two of them walked towards the doors
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As usual, the TARDIS had taken him to a place where something odd was happening. And he just couldn't resist finding out what it was.
"From the sounds of it," The Doctor said to Rose. "Someone in Splash Planet is sending out a sonic pulse that can only be heard at a certain level, like dogs and that whistle... or that awful 'Mosquito text tone' or whatever it was." Rose looked at him blankly at the mention of the text tone that hadn't been invented yet in her time. "It must somehow boost the adrenalin and cut off the receptors for fear. These people are basically acting on their greatest desires, consequences be damned. But these desires we just saw aren't that big, they have too much adrenalin and can't wait long enough to do what they really want, so they go with whatever is there. If what they want most is right in front of them then lucky them… I think.
It's just a theory at the moment but you know me, I'm almost always right. Membership card," he said flashing the psychic paper to the lady at the counter and pushed some money forward, most of witch she gave back. She stuck a coloured wrist band on them and then let them through.
"But why didn't it affect us?" Rose asked. "I heard it, I felt it. Why wasn't I…" she looked at him a moment. "… going nuts?"
"Uhhh… My guess is immunity. It probably takes a bit to wear away at our immunity to it. You doubled over so you'll probably only last one more if we're lucky, me it's hard to say, but probably not much longer."
"So, you're saying that next time this thing happens I'll be jumping off the highest tower into the pool or… something else?"
"I could hold you if you like. I won't let you go." Rose only looked at him when he said this, her emotions unreadable. But he knew that in her head she was forcing his words around so that they didn't sound quite so meaningful.
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And he knew that it had sounded that way… because that was exactly what he had meant.
He would do anything to keep her from harm.