Giants
The squelching noises of the TARDIS in flight echoed as the Doctor scurried around the interior, pushing buttons, twiddling complicated dials, and giving an occasional whack to the computer.
"Did I ever tell you" he rambled happily. "I met a bloke named Alonso? He was Brilliant! And I said to him, I said Allon-zy, Alonso! HA!"
Rose laughed, then let out a "whoop!" as the moving TARDIS spewed out a fountain of sparks and pitched her to one side. The Doctor swung around the console and started cranking a lever furiously.
"So where exactly is it we're headed?" called Rose, now hanging tightly onto the railing.
"The 70's, I think," replied the Doctor. He spun around to face her; flicking a final switch. "Of the 21st century. Brilliant decade!"
"2070?" she asked, biting her lip and grinning. The Doctor crossed his arms proudly and smirked.
"2070, Earth. London, to be exact."
"So why 2070?" asked Rose, starting to sounf a little disappointed. "Bit… close, isn't it? Nothing too exotic?"
"Well; I was actually aiming for a…quieter year, but we sort of got nudged in this direction," The Doctor replied, patting a bit of TARDIS wall.
"What makes you think this year won't be quiet?" she asked curiously.
"Because we're here."
(Take a moment to imagine the theme song here )
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door with a creak and followed Rose outside.
"I'll never get bored of this bit" said Rose, breathing in the air of mystery and excitement. They looked around a deserted street lit by cold blue streetlamps. There was an eerie atmosphere to the damp cobblestone road, and a chilling silence hung in the air. Gradually, the sounds of the world around them came into focus, as they adjusted to the new time. Suddenly, in the distance, a bright green flash cracked across the sky, impacting the earth with a ground shaking crash. Rose gasped as she and the doctor threw their arms over their heads.
The Doctor opened his eyes, examining the sky with a soft "ooh". He then whipped his head around, and grabbed Rose's arm, yanking her onto the sidewalk. A troop of soldiers and a tank came roaring down the street, carrying futuristic weapons.
"That way!" one soldier yelled and pointed to the impact site. Everyone covered their heads as another flash shook the earth. The Doctor stared at the sky with one eyebrow raised, with his mouth slightly open.
"Blimey, you were right about this not being quiet! What was that!?" shouted Rose, turning to look at him. Snapping out of his trance, the Doctor replied,
"Let's find out, come on."
The Doctor power-walked down the abandoned street holding Rose's hand. They came to a field dotted with large wooden squares nessled in the grass. At first they appeared to be gravestones, but at a closer look they were makeshift doors. They reminded Rose of the Hobbit Holes from Lord of the Rings, only shabbier.
"Ah, what do we have here?" said the Doctor, frowning and examining one of the doors through his glasses.
"Those aren't…people living in there, yeah?" asked Rose nervously.
"The human race…reduced to living in burrows…" murmured the doctor, rubbing his neck. "But why?"
Another loud flash hit the earth from behind as if to remind him.
"Well" he added. "Besides the obvious"
He strode over to a nearby door and knocked, pocketing his hands.
"Doctor…I don't think anyone's going t" started Rose.
"AH! Hello!" Beamed the doctor as the door was cracked open.
"What the hell're you doing outside? Get in here!" Spluttered the occupant, yanking them through the trapdoor. The hatch shut with a snap, muffling another crash from above. The inside of the bunker was barely big enough to fit the TARDIS, and was furnished with a small cot, a simple table, and a brick shelf bearing a few books. The Doctor had to hunch over a little so as not to hit the ceiling, which was made of chunky cement. The only light came from square screens on the walls, showing images of a sunny hillside, as if through a window. The tiny room had the claustrophobic feel of a musty cave, complete with the smell of mould, and the icy damp chill hanging in the thick air.
"I'm Susan, Susan Murphy. Who are you?" asked the woman. Looking them up and down.
"I'm the Doctor, and this is"
"Rose Tyler" finished Rose, wiping her hair out of her face.
Susan outstretched her hand as if to shake, but turned away nervously running her fingers through her hair.
"mm nice to meet you, heh heh" she muttered to herself. "Tea?!" she asked loudly, making them jump.
"Er… alright. Thanks.." replied the doctor, looking at Rose, who was also wondering where in the world Susan was going to get any tea.
"What were you loonies doing walking up there anyway?" asked Susan, pacing around the small space, flicking her fingers agetatedly.
"Em... traveling. Susan what's going on here?" the doctor asked, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.
"Going on!? We're being blasted to smithereens, that's what's going on!" Susan grabbed her forehead and whipped around, knocking a book off the shelf with her elbow.
"But why? Inquired the Doctor; swinging into a seat and resting his chin on his hand, frowning at Susan. "Who's doing it?"
"Blimey, where've you been" she snapped, still pacing.
"Susan, tell us who's doing this." Said the Doctor calmly. Rose sat down in another unoccupied chair, politely encouraging Susan's story. Susan took a shuddering breath.
"It all started… four weeks ago, four weeks yes- they came"
"Who? What were they?" asked Rose. She and the doctor leaned in closer.
"Call me crazy… but… Aliens! Real life- Robots from another planet!"
"Reeeally… said the Doctor, in mock amazement, looking at Rose. "But- hang on- you've seen aliens before, what… fifty years ago? Christmas day? Remember?
"Course I've heard the stories" said Susan, scoffing. "You expect me to believe that rubbish?"
"Well" whispered the doctor, making eye contact with Rose. "That's strange, someone's been hushing it all up, they should remember."
"But what are they doing?" he asked, returning his attention to Susan.
"They- they come down, they go through the town jus-just killing people an" her voice cracked, and she covered her mouth with a shaking hand, and started to cry. Rose got up and tentatively put a hand on her shoulder.
"But- what do they want?" asked Rose, looking at the Doctor, patting Susan's shaking shoulder.
"I DON'T KNOW!" shouted Susan suddenly, throwing her hands up. Rose jumped back in alarm. "They just want our resources, and they'll get them too!" she sobbed. "We're trying to resist… but we don't stand a chance. They fly down and zap people with lasers in their sort of arm things… and they're gone."
"That's impossible… it can't be" said the doctor, looking at Rose suddenly with wide eyes.
"Susan, what do they look like?!" he said urgently, standing up and raising his voice.
She was silent for a moment, taken aback by the Doctor's sudden intensity.
"They're robots." She stammered. "Sort of…metal domes… with two arms they use to shoot their laser things." She sniffed. The Doctor's horrible epiphany clicked in Rose's brain as the image pieces fitted together. She gasped, and looked at the Doctor, who returned her fearful gaze and nodded.
"We have to go." Announced the Doctor, panting, his dark eyes wide with adrenaline.
"You can't go out there!" protested Susan.
"Someone's got to stop this" he insisted.
"Thank you" said Rose, following the Doctor.
"You don't stand a chance" whispered Susan as they lifted the trapdoor.
The Doctor stormed down the street, grimly concentrating ahead with Rose breaking into an occasional jog to catch up.
"They can't be Daleks! They've died out, right?" asked Rose.
"Nothing's impossible. They survived the time war; they always survive. They always come back." He growled. Just as he finished speaking, a laser flash hit a shop no more than a block away. The shop exploded, sending bits of flaming rubble into the air. Rose and the Doctor threw themselves onto the ground, and were showered with bits of glass and wood. As the flaming debris settled, the Doctor lifted his head, and a wide grin spread across his face.
"What is it?" asked Rose, brushing dirt and hair out of her face.
The doctor laughed happily and pulled Rose to her feet enthusiastically. She laughed a little, still confused.
"Daleks would never use this kind of weaponry. Too… basic. That, was ballistic dual magnaton blast. Nothing more. That's only, what, 6 radians per kilopascal? Daleks use completely different…em… stuff. But this…" he started to mumble to himself as he got out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it towards the sky. "must be coming from a headquarters- probably a ship- but it should be giving off a pretty strong signal…if I could just…"
"but…" started Rose, looking at the sky over his shoulder.
The Doctor continued mumbling, slowly making circles in the sky with his buzzing screwdriver.
"ooh… that's clever, so simple!…Aw, no- really… the energy's just…"
"Doctor?"
"should… be…. just….AH!" he yelled suddenly. Rose gasped and jumped back, but smiled in spite of herself.
"There we are. That's their ship. Just there." He stated casually, pointing up.
"How big is it? How far up?"
The Doctor scrunched his lips and squinted, making an estimation.
"'Bout- quarter mile wide, a mile up."
Rose paused, looking up at the sky, and it started to rain.
"What if another laser comes again at us here?"
"Good point" replied the doctor, taking her hand again.
"So they're not Daleks? What are they then?"
"I dunno, but they're not Daleks; we're safe." He smiled, taking her hand and starting to jog to avoid the rain.
They turned a corner and trotted onto another street, covering their heads with the Doctor's coat. They came to a large square area of street closed off with a chain link fence. Inside the fence were people of all ages, sitting or sleeping on the ground. It wasn't raining inside the fence, like it was shielded from an invisible roof. The Doctor approached one of the armed guards just inside the fence.
"What's this?" asked the Doctor.
"Safehouse." Replied the guard proudly. "Best force field technology. They can't get us in here. You want in?"
The Doctor looked at Rose, who gave him a 'why not?' look. They entered, dripping over the dry ground and the guard closed the door behind them. They walked through the square, past all the desperate looking people and sat down on one of the last bits of unoccupied cement. The Doctor took off his coat, and he and Rose used it to dry off. The doctor leaned over to a boy next to him.
"How long have you been here?"
"M? Oh. Not long." The boy replied. "We were just doing our shopping when they came. So we all ran to the nearest safe-house. Or, at least the ones who made it." He sighed. "We're just waiting to make sure they don't come back."
The doctor paused, thinking.
"Have you seen all the people living underground?" He asked.
"Yeah.." snorted the boy. "Those are the people who've given up. That's just about everyone now. But it's not much safer down there." He added, shaking his head. "It just makes 'em feel like they're doing something"
"Is this happening all over the world? Or just in Europe?" asked The Doctor.
"Dunno" The boy replied. He reached into a bag and pulled out a shiny tablet.
"But these aliens are clever." He continued, swiping a finger across the screen of the tablet.
"They've scrambled everything; we've got no Internet, no phones, no news, not even radio." He swiped through the pages on the tablet, showing the Doctor the endless static fuzz.
"Blimey- blocked communication; the deadliest kind of war…" mumbled the Doctor running his fingers through his hair.
"Doctor?" started Rose, curiously looking at the sky.
"If I could just have a look at the circuit cables…" he muttered, concentrating on empty space and twiddling his thumbs. "I'm the Doctor by the way" he added.
"Aaron" said the boy, nodding.
"Doctor!" said Rose in a more panicked voice, grabbing his arm and pointing.
The Doctor whipped his head around to look at the sky, then shoved on his glasses, open mouthed.
"Oh-ho" he said, curiously.
What looked like a cloud of fireflies was swarming out of the night sky towards their shelter. As they fly nearer, individual robots can be distinguished.
"Here they come!" one woman yelled.
People started to point and yell, and stand up in panic.
"Why'd the daft things come back?" scoffed the guard. "They know the kind of force field we're under."
The Doctor and Rose stepped into a back wall as one alien came flying gracefully towards the enclosure. It was a beautiful yet foreboding creature, with a smooth translucent shell of what looked like glass. Inside the shell was filled with sparkling particles of light, that was concentrated in areas, making glowing images that resembled a face. The creature's presence swept a stunning ripple of silence and fear across the courtyard. It came to a floating stop, hovering mere feet from the invisible roof of the enclosure.
"Ha!" Teased the guard, his voice echoing in the silent courtyard. "That's as far as you'll be getting, bastard!"
"Don't" warned the Doctor, stepping forward.
The Robot looked into the enclosure, and raised it's arm. BANG! A bright green laser shot out of the alien's arm, and into the force field with a crack. The invisible shield shattered like safety glass, and everyone hid their faces from the falling shards. The alien swooped in noiselessly and turned to the guard, who whipped out a gun and took aim. Before he had a chance to pull the trigger, a green bolt of light hit him in the chest, knocking him into the air. He screamed in pain, and his body was blasted into a handful of shimmering dust that settled to the ground.
As if waiting for the queue, people started screaming and scattering in all directions. Through all the chaos, the other robots swooped down and began mercilessly beaming people. The air was soon thick with lasers, and the terrible screams of fright and pain as the people were blasted into the air. Children called for their missing parents, and parents cried over piles of dust on the street.
"Oh my god what do we do!?" cried Rose.
"Run!"
Rose and The Doctor sprinted through the rain down narrow streets, past the eerie blue streetlamps, darting down random alleyways. They ran for their lives, trying to ignore the poignant screams of the victims being blasted away. Rose whipped around a tight corner and collided with a man, just as he was shot by an alien from behind. The man and Rose screamed, him out of pain and her out of alarm. As the dust settled onto her shoes, Rose stood rooted to the spot, shaking; and turned to look at the Doctor with a tear-streaked face.
"Let's go, come on." Breathed The Doctor, putting his hands on her shoulders and steering her away.
Down endless streets they ran, stopping only to dive behind a dustbin or wall to avoid a laser. They rounded a corner, and ran into a tight alleyway of brick walls and a bolted gate at the end. Just as they were turning around to go back, a robot came swooping in after them.
"RUN!" yelled the Doctor, turning towards the gate. Rose sprinted down the alley towards the gate with the doctor behind, and the alien on his tail. In one swift motion, the Doctor swung around to face the robot, extending the tip of his sonic screwdriver. The buzzing waves collided with the robot, which crashed to the ground, expelling sparks. Momentarily relieved that the Doctor was safe, Rose turned again and ran for the door.
"It's Locked!" she yelled exasperatedly, slamming into the gate and fumbling at the handle.
"Catch!" he called, throwing his sonic screwdriver with all his might. Behind him, the alien on the ground began to stir. Rose caught the screwdriver and began working on the door.
"Got it!" she yelled triumphantly; as the gate banged open. She turned, wiping hair out of her face, expecting to see the affectionate praise in the Doctor's eyes.
What she saw was the injured robot lift off the ground, and point it's arm at the Doctor. She saw the Doctor running towards her, oblivious of the danger. She felt herself scream and point, and saw his jaunty face turn, eyes widening with terror. She saw a green bolt of lightning, she saw his fragil body blasted into the air, and his eyes met hers; staring with longing and shock, searing into her brain. She saw a pile of glittering dust fall to the wet ground, and turn to mud.
"DOCTOR!" she screamed.
Her mind plunged into chaos; her body was on fire with shock- he wasn't gone, he always comes back, he'd never leave her. He would just come out of the dust, and regenerate. He'll come back. No little thing like that could kill him. Yet there lay the pile of wet dust, yielding no hint of the glimmering yellow regeneration energy she longed to see. She lifted her eyes from the smoking cement to the alien waiting down the street, watching her.
"YOU!" she screamed, running at the alien, all fear forgotten. Clenching her teeth in fury, she pointed the buzzing sonic screwdriver at the robot. It stared at the screwdriver carelessly, which suddenly burned red like hot metal, scorching her hand. She dropped it in pain, and it too vanished into dust. The alien hovered there, silently mocking her. Defenseless, she stood before it shaking with adrenaline and grief.
"WELL GO ON THEN!" She cried, tears of rage streaming down her face. "SHOOT ME!" It stared at her, doing nothing.
Just then, another robot flew in from the open door. She was trapped.
"Don't fire." It said calmly in a smooth, human-like voice.
"That was not my intention," replied the first robot, with the same tranquil tone.
"KILL ME!" screamed Rose, stepping up to the robot, sobbing.
"BRING HIM BACK!" she gasped. The robots remained silent and motionless.
She sprung at the alien, fists raised, and began attacking any part of it she could. She would kill it, and the Doctor would come back, like he always did.
"BRING HIM BACK!" she roared.
The Robot floated away, inches out of her reach, taunting her. Both robots watched her with stone-like silence.
She stepped back miserably and collapsed to her knees.
"Doctor" she pleaded, crying over the dust.
"Doctor come back."
"Don't leave me" She whispered, shaking with sobs.
"Don't leave me."
"You see it too?" asked the one of the robots.
"Yes. This one has traveled to the farthest reaches of the universe... and past. Through the void... impossible."
"THE DOCTOR'S BEEN PLACES AND THAT DIDNT STOP YOU FROM KILLIN HIM!" Cried Rose.
"Doctor? THE Doctor?" asked the second robot. "How is it possible that he was overlooked? The time vortex residue would be substantially stronger in him. Considering the fact that he is a Time-Lord, which we would instantly distinguish."
"Yes, he must have concealed himself in human form. No matter. We shall use this one instead."
Before Rose could react, the two aliens were upon her.
"Stop! Get Away!" she demanded, fighting to escape. They flew around her in circles, and a twisting fiber of electricity wound around her body, growing like a vine, pinning her arms to her sides. She tried to struggle or run, but she was completely immobilized. The Robots turned, and started to float away. The coils binding Rose gave a jerk, and she was pulled by the robots in an invisible tow, dragging her behind them.
PART TWO
He can't be gone. The phrase buzzed around Rose's mind, leaving no room to pay any attention to the aliens dragging her to some inevitable doom.
Oh yes he can. argued the doubtful voice in the back of her mind. He's human now, he's just as fragile as you.
But he… he always has a plan, he was ready for this, he should have known this could happen! I know he has a plan!
No. she told herself again. He didn't have a plan, he is dead. He's human, he's not a time lord, in fact he isn't even the Doctor at all.
He is the Doctor! His brain's the same, his memory's the same, it's just a new body. It's no different from when he's changed before. You seemed to cope fine with the change then.
But he's not a Time Lord now, he's just a human. That's why the robot didn't sense him. It sensed me.
They both sensed me, thought Rose, Cause I've been in space more than he has. I'm the one they noticed, because I've got more void traces and background radiation, he's only just started…
With a jerk, the electric leashes pulling Rose became firm as the robots came to a stop. They had brought her to a gathering of five or six other aliens. They all looked relatively uniform, with their sparkling glass shells and their glowing green spots that looked like eyes. Rose stood helplessly next to the circle of conversing robots, her arms still pinned to her sides.
"She speaks of The Doctor. The Time Lord." Stated one robot calmly.
"Impossible!" interjected another robot. "The Gallifreyan race was annihilated!"
"He survived" added another.
They talked for what seemed like hours, but this was all just meaningless noise to Rose.
"What would he do," she asked herself. The answer was obvious; what the Doctor would want her to do. The Doctor; her Doctor, would want her to survive. She thought of the first word he ever said to her, the word he used to prove it was really him when he regenerated.
Taking a quick glance around and seeing that none of the aliens were behind her, she turned and ran.
The robots gave chase instantly.
"Open Fire!" ordered one.
Rose ran for her life, jumping left and right to dodge all the lasers cracking the pavement behind her. Her only hope was to find the TARDIS, but it was lost in the maze of tight dark alleyways. Four robots were on her tail, continuously shooting at her. With hands still glued to her sides she hurdled down streets, darting around corners and changing directions, trying to lose them. One laser zipped past her ear, she could feel the heat and hear the hum of the energy. It hit a trashcan in front of her, which exploded into dirt and debris. Closing her eyes, she sprinted through the cloud, and turned another corner. As she ran blindly down the side street, she risked a glance behind her; and saw nothing. Still sprinting and making sure she had lost the robots in the dust, her foot crashed painfully into a large chunk of cement. With no hands to stop herself, she flew foreward and the street rushed up to meet her.
"Rose? Ro-ose." Coaxed a familiar voice.
Rose groaned and twitched on the pavement.
"Ah, that's right, here we go!" said the voice.
"Doctor!?" exclaimed Rose suddenly, sitting up. She let out a gasp of pain and dizziness and collapsed back down.
"Ooh-easy does it" came the doctor's voice again.
Rose lay on the ground, with her cheek against the pavement. She slowly cracked open her eyes, screwing them up against the blinding light of day. When her double vision focused and her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw one of the strangest things she had seen in all her travels.
The Doctor stood in front of her, at eye level, beaming, despite the fact that he stood a quarter of a centimeter tall. He grinned with jubilation, waving to her to emphasize his happiness.
"Doctor! Is that y- You're- you" stammered Rose, un-sticking her cheek from the cobblestone and leaning in to look at him. He was so tiny she was afraid of breathing too hard, in case he blew away.
"Isn't this brilliant?" he asked happily, examining himself. "Nobody's dead, I thought it was suspicious for the robots to have that much power on a host planet, but the victims only get shrunk! HA!"
She longed to jump into his arms, but couldn't touch him for fear of crushing him.
"But wha-? You're- w-what about making you bigger? She stammered. "Suppose I could just… feed you a corn kernel everyday!" she laughed. "Or maybe a peanut!"
"Don't forget a chocolate sprinkle for dessert!" added the Doctor, laughing. "Oh and this landed right next to me" he said, getting out a tiny sonic screwdriver. "Right when you…" he faltered, remembering the events of last night.
"it's cute, yeah.." said Rose, also turning somber.
They sat in silence, taking in all that had happened. The horrible memories spun freshly in her mind, flashing the haunting memories of the Doctor's painful face as he was being blasted away from her.
"I'm so sorry" he murmered. "When they took you, I… couldn't"
"I didn't care" she interrupted, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I- I really thought you were gone, just like all those other people…" she sniffed weakly, gasping.
"I'm not dead, and neither is anyone else."
She nodded quietly, spluttering and steadying her shaking breath.
"but we need to go put an end to all this." He added calmly, looking into her eyes with compassion.
"What do we need to do?" said Rose firmly, angrily wiping her eyes.
"Well, you've landed in a convinient spot" said the Doctor, gesturing behind her. She turned, to see the TARDIS parked not ten feet away. The sight of the TARDIS stimulated Rose's sense of adventure; pumping adrenaline through her veins. She stood up determinedly, flicking stubborn hair out of her face. The Doctor was so small his voice couldn't be heard more than a foot away, so Rose helped him sit on her hoop earring. He sat there with his legs crossed, swinging comfortably and looking around as if they were heading off to a picnic.
"How do we get in? the key's been shrunk too." Said Rose, pacing the TARDIS.
"I keep a spare under a hatch on the roof, we- Well, you'll have to climb up."
The TARDIS was parked against a chain link fence, so Rose clung on and began climbing. Hanging onto the fence with one arm, she stretched backwards, reaching for the rim of the TARDIS roof.
"Almost… just a little farther, come on, stretch!" commentated the Doctor.
"I'm trying!" grunted Rose, struggling onto the roof. She found the tiny wooden flap, and extracted the key from under it. "hang on tight" she warned, and jumped to the ground. "But really" said Rose, turning the key in the door and stepping inside to the familiar humming sound of the interior. "How are we going to get you bigger, you can't even fly the TARDIS."
"Oh I'm not flying the TARDIS" he replied casually from her earring. "you are."
"me? I.."
"it's easy, we're just flying about a mile, and we're staying in the same day. Just do what I say."
Rose looked from the computer to the consule full of countless mechanisms of unimaginable functions. She had never fully appreciated the complexity and the nonsense of the strange controls.
"I know you'll be brilliant." He added.
"Well, okay" said Rose shakily. "Allon-sy."
"HA! Allon-sy!" agreed the Doctor; beaming as if he couldn't wait to get started.
"Okay, first thing, flick that switch on your left."
"This one?"
"No, the shinier one." Rose flicked the switch, and yelped as the TARDIS roared to life and lurched to one side.
"Good! Now quickly, spin that green ball till you feel resistance, while you hold the orange button, but just before it turns blue grab that lever there!"
"this is mad!" she exclaimed, punching the orange button and grabbing the lever.
"hit it hit it! Urged the Doctor.
"hit what?"
"that square there! Hit it with the mallet under the consule!"
Rose whacked the consule with the mallet.
"AAH! No no no!" yelled the Doctor from her hoop earring.
"what!?"
"Run around the other side, and steady the wheel!"
"there's a wheel?"
"well, sometimes."
"Oh, brilliant, only sometimes!"
"see, that wheel, put on a little more cold!"
Rose turned what appeared to be a water faucet, and the consule exploded with sparks.
"AA! What did I do!?" yelled Rose, accidentally wrencing another lever to keep her balance.
"No, no sparks are good." nodded the doctor. "just grab that handle and pump it up and down a few times, and after 5 pumps, flip up the third switch on the right, but don't take your foot of that knob!"
After pumping furiously, Rose flipped up the switch, and the TARDIS sparked and shook violently.
"hang on, is it Tuesday? Sorry! flip up the fourth switch then! Look at you, you've already gotten yourself into the time vortex, I told you we're staying in the same day!"
"you said the third switch!"
"doesn't matter, see that handle hanging above your head? Pull it down after you press the T button on the computer!"
Rose pounded the T key, and jumped up, yanking the lever down.
It was silent in the bright white marble corridor, with only the faint hum of electricity disturbing the air. A robot hovered down the shiny corridor, gazing at it's reflection in the polished floor. It proceeded through the hallway with a soft whirring noise, and entered a room as large and magnificent as a cathedral. Intricate, glossy white machines lined the walls from the floor to the cavernous ceilings, and their brilliance gave an illusion of endless mirror-like reflection. The control panels had the majesty of the TARDIS controls, but lacked the nonsense and screamed elegance and power. Every button on every panel was perfectly designed, in clean, neat, meanacing rows. The robot hovered calmly across the glowing floor to a gathering of robots in discussion.
CRASH!
there was a roaring, catastrophic explosion, and a large blue box slashed through time and smashed into the shiny white floors, skidding loudly before tipping onto it's side with a deafening bang. It lay there for a second smoking as she showers of tinkling glass fell to the ground and the dust cleared.
A door on the top opened inwards, and a groping arm flailed out followed by a dishevaled girl; panting and wiping hair out of her face.
"Phew! There goes our incognito enterance" said Rose loudly, heaving herself out of the TARDIS.
The aliens could only watch in stunned silence.
"Remember the plan," whispered the Doctor in her ear. "put me on the controls, just buy as much time as you can get me."
"Good luck" she whispered.
The robots floated towards her as she discretely swept against one of the conrol panels on the wall. She leaned into the wall casually, giving the Doctor enough time to scramble off her earring and cling onto a wire hooked up to the towering controls. With his sonic screwdriver clenched in his teeth, he used a thin cord as a rope and began scaling the wall.
"Back so soon?" hissed one of the robots quietly.
"thought I fancied a drop-in, yeah" sighed Rose calmly.
"enough" called another robot, raising it's arm; prompting the rest to do the same. "Surrender your planet, or we will lose patience and take it by force."
The cold sound of the alien's threat swept into every corner of the room, quieting whispers and freezing the air into a ringing silence. Rose swiped hair out of her face and boldly stepped foreward.
"yeah, except that's not going to work." She said. "Because I know something." She paused, feeling her confidence blossom with the looks of worried curiosity from the robots. "I know your secret" she whispered slowly, her toungue peeking out playfully as she watched for this statement's effect.
"What power do you have?" sneered the robot, rising above the others meanacingly.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know. The power of words; people will find out about your fraud little plan, you want people to think you've been killing so they'll surrender! If people find out nobody's dead, they'll have hope, they'll fight! What do you want with earth, anyway?"
"The race of the Novires is expanding. Once life is cleared from this planet, it's resources will suffice."
Rose snorted.
"You can't expect humans to scatter like sheep, they will fight back! Your weapons are a mock-up, you haven't even been killing!" She said, stepping foreward and rasing her voice.
"If that is what you wish for, we will certainly be able to rise to the occasion and kill you now!" snarled the robot, it's malevolent voice echoing off the cavenous walls.
"What then?" she spat. "What will you do after you've gone and killed little ol' me!? There is a planet brimming with life down there willing to fight; to sacrifice everything for their home! When you leave and talk of the Earth, then you can never forget this: It is defended!" She yelled, raising her fist. "There's an attack on this very ship and you don't even know it!"
BOOM! Just then, an eruption of sparks and fire exploded from the ceiling of control panels with a tremendous bang, shaking the ship like a violent earthquake. Rose threw herself onto the ground to shield herself from the flaming hunks of metal and glass crashing and pounding all around her. A large but softer object landed next to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her up.
"Doctor!" she cried, leaping into a hug. "How did y"
Another ton of rock and fire smashed into the ground next to them, shattering the shiny floor tiles.
"Go back in the TARDIS" said the Doctor urgently.
"I'm not losing y"
"Run!" he urged wildly, adrenaline pulsing fiercely through his wide eyes.
Covering her head, she ran a few steps towards the TARDIS, but stopped to look back in worry. The Doctor sprinted to the wall and began feverishly working a frenzy of buttons and controls. He snapped his gaze up to watch the effect as he dramatically pulled a final lever. A bright green bolt of eletricity burst out of the control board and blasted the chests of four nearby robots. They cracked and twisted into flame, and fell to the ground writhing and screaming; and a savage smile crept onto the doctor's face. Returning his attention to the controls, he summoned a storm of cataclysmic blinding flashed that pounded and smashed everything in sight; burning, crushing, and annihilating the screaming robots that could not find cover. Manipulating the panels skillfully, he fell into a daze, frantically pounding, flipping, and engaging every button in reach with expert precision, wildly shouting curses and promises about Gallifrey, the war, and torment that could only be described in gallifreyan.
"Doctor!" shouted Rose through the fire as her feeling of triumph melted into horror. "Stop!"
He stood stunned for a moment, and his arms went slack, and slowly slipped off the controls, swinging down to his sides. He stumbled backwards, flicking his gaze between Rose and the Robots, panting through his slightly open mouth. She ran to him and carefully steered his limp body back into the TARDIS.
Once safely inside, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his wide, frantic eyes, now puffy and wet. She held him for a long time, calming his heaving chest and racing heart; listening to the calming, quiet hum of the consule.
"you were brilliant," he whispered, smiling.
"I learn from the best" she murmured, combing his fried hair with her fingers fondly.
"part of what you said to the Novires, about defending earth; that was," started the Doctor.
"Harriet Jones, yeah." Finished Rose, smiling.
They stood together, listening to the quiet hum.
"shall we go?" asked the Doctor, breaking the silence.
"Lets."
He swung around the consule enthusiastically, concentrating on the controls and putting on a display of cheerfulness. Rose could see his pain through the act, but decided to go along with it. That was just his way of saying "I'm fine", whether or not he meant it. She listened to him humming a little too loudly, and the TARDIS dematerialized from the ship.
"So I blew up the generator, keeping everyone shrunk," he began. "that generator, was using huge amounts of energy, pumping negatively charged particles to slip right into the very atoms of earth! It's incredible, the power they invested in that!" He leapt across the consule to steady another lever, and the TARDIS quieted and parked.
"How does that work, then?"
"well, see- how do I explain this," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair and putting on his glasses. "In an atom, nearly 99% is empty space, just nothing. The electrons are being repelled from the positive core, all you have to do to shrink someone is to blast them, well, not blast, but think of it that way it's easier-anyway you can actually cancel out some of the positive charge and bring the electrons closer to the nucleus. So simple, it's brilliant!"
"Basically you reversed the polarity of the neutron flow" laughed Rose, nudging him.
"quite right" he agreed, putting on a posh accent and grinning. "anyway, the shock wave from the generator exploding caused the electronegativity to backfire, so I grew back right away. The people on earth; well, it'll take them about a week to grow back fully. And they'll be really static. Might want to put two cling sheets in the dryer for a while. Come on!" he called happily, and pulled Rose out of the TARDIS.
They had landed in the street with the chain link fence, and watched the scene unfold around them. The smoking spaceship, now visible in the sky, turned and flew away. People ran down the street laughing and hugging friends and family they thought were dead. An old woman hobbled towards her beloved cat and swiped it up into an affectionate squeeze. Mobs of giggling kids scampered through the fields of burrows, wrenching open trapdoors and hauling the blinking occupants out into the sun. Rose grabbed the Doctor's arm and pointed to a little boy, about five, who ran and jumped into a sobbing Susan's arms. Rose smiled, catching susan's watery eye and waving. The Doctor pocketed his hands, and his mouth split into a wide grin.
She stepped into the warm, carpeted hallway and threw down her bag, the Doctor closing the door behind her.
"Mum?" she called.
"In the kitchen!" came the response. Rose trotted into the kitchen with the Doctor in tow.
"About time!" said Jackie, hugging Rose.
"C'mere you!" she added as she pulled the reluctant Doctor into a tight hug too.
"You're just in time for supper, Claire came by the other day with that recipe she's been hoarding for years- bless her, I've just been trying it out. Ha! As if I was any good at cooking!" she laughed.
The Doctor looked at Rose, making a face and waving the air in front of his nose, making her giggle.
"So where's everyone else?" asked Rose.
"Pete's at work, and Tony's asleep, all tuckered out I suppose, from the- Oh! You haven't seen yet! Come have a look then!"
Jackie beckoned excitedly into the living room. She led them to a small gated corner in the room, and inside are two tiny kittens.
"Ooh how gorgeous!" cried Rose as she dove down to get one.
"That orange one's Amy, and the brown's called Rory." Said Jackie, beaming. "Tony's been wanting something like this, he absolutely adores them, and we couldn't leave with just one!"
"They're Precious!" Agreed Rose, sitting down inside the gate and letting the kittens scamper over her lap. "Aren't they, Doctor?"
"M-hm." He mumbled, eyeing the cats suspiciously.
"fine then, mind your own cat problems," teased Rose, laughing.
He continued to eye them with a look of distrust.
"I'm going to get my coat from the TARDIS," he announced. "Be right back."
The Doctor strolled down the driveway, softly whistling. He produced a key from his front suit pocket, and unlocked the TARDIS, pausing to lovingly stroke the wooden door for a moment. He pushed the door in to the familiar creaking noise. His brow furrowed, and his jaw dropped.
"WHAT!?"