New York is the city that ever sleeps. People are always awake there; throughout all hours of the night these people walk the streets, surf the web, or even work late office jobs. The city is alive at all times and there is never a dull, quiet moment. The city is known for its fantastic sites, opportunities, and more. But the city is much darker than anyone knows, aside from one man. This man is not even a man at all; he is an alien, and the last of his kind. He is here on the streets of New York at night because this is the place where he lost them, his best friends. They are gone and he can do nothing.
"Goodbye raggedy man…" The Doctor muttered under his breath. Those were the last words Amelia Pond would ever speak to him, and they would forever be burned into his hearts. It has been a week since he last saw them, but he can't bring himself to leave the place that they had lived when the Weeping Angels took them back.
The Doctor sat quietly on a bench, in the middle of Central Park. The street light above shone down upon him, illuminating him and protecting him from the surrounding darkness. He was trying to relive the final moments he had had with his previous companions, but his train of thought was broken when he took notice of something peculiar. The street light above was flickering. Now, any normal person would consider this nothing to worry about. However, this flickering had been following him; it was not just this street light. How hadn't he noticed this! He smacked himself lightly. How could he have been so stupid? Obviously, this was no coincidence! But why hadn't he noticed until now?
Across town, NYU student Sierra Miller sat in the dimly lit library of her place of study; she preferred it late at night, when only a few students were still up and about. Her attention was focused on her laptop, although not entirely. She was trying to distract herself from her wandering mind as she waited for the arrival of her closest companion, and study buddy, Noah Bible. Being the type of person she was, she immediately considered the worst when he responded to none of her texts, and was as late as he currently was. Did he die in a car crash? Did he get mugged? Did a man eating crocodile crawl out from the sewers and swallow him whole? The red haired girl shook her head.
"You have got to /stop/ that, Sierra." She mumbled to herself, sighing and standing up. Whatever was keeping him, it was obvious that it was going to be doing so for the remainder of the night. Defeated, she figured it would be a good time to pack up. As she reached for the power button on her laptop, the screen flicked off. Her finger was still about an inch away from the button when this occurred.
How odd… The young woman squinted her eyes down at her laptop. Absolutely positive that it had had a relatively full battery, the fact that it had turned off by itself baffled her. Perhaps it was becoming sentient! …no, that was a silly thought, one which she brushed off quickly with a quiet laugh at her own stupidity. Of course, she quickly found herself back on the subject no matter how quickly she had tried to push such ridiculous thoughts aside.
"But what if!" she said out loud to herself, standing up straight and continuing to gather her various belongings. "I wonder if it has a name of its own. And a family! Have I been keeping it away from its family? I'm sorry, laptop." She gave it a light pat, before shoving it into a snug laptop bag. She pulled the strap up onto her shoulder, and it rested heavily against the fabric of her dark jacket.
As she took her first step toward the doors, she was brought to a halt once more. Every light in the room dimmed slowly, until the room was pitch black. They revived, and this process repeated multiple times. A quiet murmur arose among all who sat in the room. The strobing of the lights gradually picked up its pace; suddenly, it came to a dead stop, and the room was dark again. That was when they heard the first sound of the beast. A low rumble crackled and echoed through the large room. This was sufficient noise to make the woman tense up. Desperate to tell someone what was happening, she fished into her pocket for her cell phone. The screen lit up bright, but fizzled away just as quickly. 'Damn!' she mentally cursed, shoving it back where it came from. Frightened for what was to come, Sierra sat back down, putting her face in her hands. "I knew no good ever came from studying." she mumbled, voice muffled.
The Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it up at the flickering light. Something was feeding itself from it, and he was picking up massive amounts of energy coming from not only this light, but all the lights in the park. They were all flickering now. Gaze turning across the street, the Doctor spotted a middle aged man cursing at his cell phone. He sprinted over to the man.
"'ello sir. Do you mind?" The Doctor gestured toward the phone, which was turning itself off and on. The man handed it over. The Doctor gave it a quick scan with his sonic, and it seemed to be emanating the same energy as the lights. Giving it a jolt of power, the Doctor caused the device to release the energy from itself completely. A small, snake-like creature appeared from within the device, and disappeared as it jumped into the television in the store window nearby. The Doctor handed the phone back to its owner, even though its screen had completely shattered as the creature left it.
"What the hell did you do to my phone!?" the man screamed at the Doctor.
"Sorry! Gotta go!" he quickly responded, as he sprinted down the street. He was noticing lights and electronics having trouble all around him. The energy was getting stronger the further the Doctor ran down the street. He ran into the alleyway, where he had parked the TARDIS. Stepping inside, he started scanning the area to see what was going on exactly. This energy surge was coming from all over the city!
Now that he thought about it, the Doctor recalled hearing of a creature that fed on energy previously, but he had never encountered it. He was thinking and thinking, and pacing about the TARDIS wasn't helping the situation any. After a long time, it struck him. He remembered hearing about it on Gallifrey. There had been an infestation of Apepians, beings of pure energy that resembled snakes, when he was just a boy still in his first incarnation. He barely remembered it, but after these creatures had sucked out the energy of some of the TARDIS on the planet, they sucked out the life force from a few of the Time Lords as well! This was bad. It took the Time Lords years to rid the planet of the Apepians, but these humans didn't have the technology nor the power the Time Lords had to get rid of them. He stood around the console of the TARDIS, flipping switches and turning knobs frantically to find the source.
"Oh, of course! The main influx of energy is coming from NYU's campus!" the Doctor shouted at himself. These creatures would feed on the energy of New York, that has more lights and electronics than most places on Earth. Then they were to feed on the young, bright minds at NYU. These creatures would like youthful, intelligent people over the aged and senile. He powered up the TARDIS, and it started to dematerialize, reappearing near the campus. He stepped out of his blue box and looked around. He could feel it in the air. "NO!" he screamed. The Apepians would want to feed out his belongings. They could get more energy off his two items that would last them longer than the energy from the entirety of New York! If they sucked the TARDIS dry, then he would be stuck! This made him think back to how Amy and Rory were stuck in the past. This wasn't going to happen to him. He had to save himself and the city!
After the initial growl sounded, there was a long moment of absolute silence. Then, things started to become hectic. A bright light shone from the doorway, and the sizzling, crackling noises that had been so quiet before were now overwhelmingly loud. Startled, Sierra raised her head quickly just to find her eyes locked with those of a terrible beast across the room. A great serpent, made of condensed energy, towered over the terrified students in the library. As it raised itself further into the air, it emitted a most terrible hiss, one that left each and every person in the room terrified beyond belief. Those closer to the back huddled together in a corner, and those toward the middle and front fled to join them. But Sierra remained where she was, still locking eyes with this terrible Apepian. The knot that had formed in her stomach had grown to make her feel sick with fright, and as much a she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to get up and run. On top of the fear was a certain curiosity, and enticement, that made her want to know what in the world- or out of the world- this thing was! With her making no attempts to move away, the Apepian began its slow approach toward her, taking its time as the victim allowed it to.
Outside of the building, many of the smaller aliens had begun to find their way to the Doctor. Yes, his machinery was like the Thanksgiving Feast of meals to them! They /had/ to have it! Eager little snakes slid their way around his beloved TARDIS, slipping easily through the smallest of gaps in the door. They were ready to feast upon everything available! Being of small size, luckily, the process would be slow. But they were numerous. They slipped all throughout the interior of the TARDIS, scoping rooms for anything they could find. One, however, found something very unappealing; one found its death. On the floor sat an ordinary magnet. It was nothing amazing, just an absolutely ordinary magnet. But upon nearing this magnet unsuspectingly, the snake fizzled and popped, being scrambled. With that, it had been destroyed. It seemed that, like with many other electronics, a magnet could be used to interfere with them.
The Doctor looked upon the TARDIS with disgust. His precious box was being devoured! He was trying to think of ways to stop the slithering creatures for a moment. He looked around. He knew what would get their attention. At the back of the building he stood near, he spotted a breaker box that controlled the power for the entire building. If he could overpower it, he would be able to get their attention and maybe, just maybe, he could stop them. Sonic pointed at the power box, he announced confidently,
"Let there be NO light!" Even with some of the energy drained from the sonic, it still managed to start get sparks flying from the box. The power in the building, and all surrounding buildings, powered off.
There was a stillness in the air, but then the Doctor heard the static. It sounded like white noise from a television, mixed with someone setting off a taser. Frankly, it was a rather unsettling sound. The creature from which it came, however, was much more unsettling on its own. The creature before him was massive, not like the small Apepians he had seen already. This monster had fed all that it wanted, and was at full power. The Doctor had no idea what to do about this. He had gotten their attention, but he had no plan! Little did he know that a simple magnet would kill this threat. He ran for the door of the library. He didn't expect to see another big Apepian on the inside. This one was standing in front of a girl, who looked extremely frightened. He wanted to help her.
His distraction was a success! The tiny creatures, and the huge, frightening one he had fled from, all fed themselves. These voracious creatures would not be satisfied even by this grand feast, however, so he only had so much time to act on.
Attention fully focused on the Apepian, the scared girl took no noticed of the Doctor's arrival. However, the creature did, as he could sense this much greater energy source from the minute he stepped foot inside the building. Breaking away from the girl's gaze, it turned itself around to examine the Doctor. It was at this point that she noticed him as well.
'Get out of here!' she wanted to scream, however she was unable to find her voice. Her frightened, sad eyes conveyed what she was unable to say.
The Doctor kept glancing from the girl to the Apepian. He could run for it again and leave the girl alone, or he could save her and they could flee together. He really didn't want another human to be hurt because of his mistakes. He was going to help her! He hopped across a table to get near the girl.
"Hi. I'm the Doctor. And I guess you aren't used to seeing big energy-snake-things. I'm not either, so this is a new experience for both of us!"
The Doctor..? What kind of Doctor? What in the world was he doing, jumping in here when he could be running off to live? So many things she would just love to ask, but no voice with which to do so, and absolutely no time. She stared over at him, her look of fear now presenting itself mixed with a look of inquisition.
The Apepian let out a room-shaking roar, seemingly angered by the lack of attention focused on it. This was its moment to shine, damn it! The creature neared, hissing all the while. Sierra snapped her attention back to it as it approached once again. Now that someone else was beside her, Sierra gathered up enough momentary courage to slip behind the man and cower. She wasn't sure why, but even with his spontaneous entrance, this man made her feel just a bit safer. She trusted that, somehow, he would save them all.
The Apepian approached the pair. The Doctor looked back at the girl. She now seemed less scared than before, and he smiled. He liked making people feel safer.
"What do you want?" he asked the creature. The Apepian screeched,
"Isn't it obvious? Energy, you fool. What are you? I can feel so much more energy from you than these pathetic humans. You must be a Time Lord. I thought that race was extinct. I must have been wrong. I've heard they taste like time and agelessness." The Doctor backed away from it. Was he about to become a main course, with the girl being dessert? He grabbed her by the hand. It was time to run. He loved to run.
Immediate instinct told the girl to pull her hand away from him, however she only allowed herself a small tug before she realized that she /needed/ to stay with him. Her fingers, trembling, wrapped right around the man's hand, and her other found its way to the strap on her shoulder. Even in this situation, where they both faced death, her laptop was one of her priorities, and if they were to sprint away, she wanted it to reach safety with them. Breathing in deep, she tried her best to shake her nervousness off as much as she could. She needed her legs to be functioning properly, at least, as she anticipated the run that was to come. As she focused on this, she resembled the very commonly referenced 'deer in the headlights'. And with that, she finally managed to speak. Rather than bombarding him with questions, the only words that slipped past her lips were,
"My name is Sierra. It's nice to meet you." in a very quiet, near silent, trembling voice. Manners were still important in such a situation as well. She uttered her return greeting to him just as the creature began to raise its great claws. This was it, they needed to get the hell out of there.
He ran. He ran with all of his companions. The Doctor and his friends were always on the run from the creatures that constantly found them. This girl, Sierra, was she his new companion? Amy didn't want him to travel alone; he needed someone to keep him grounded. The two ran with all of their might, racing around bookshelves until they got to the back entrance. The Doctor and Sierra both felt relief to be away from the creature. He could hear the Apepian screaming in the library, pushing things down. It was angry. It wanted him. The Doctor needed to do something. He needed to get back to the TARDIS.
The TARDIS was still active, he could sense it! Maybe he could find something inside that would save them. He grabbed Sierra once more and pulled her into the TARDIS.
She only had a moment to rest before she was pulled into the police box. Boy, oh boy, she had thought the giant snake would be the craziest thing she saw all evening, but apparently that was a silly assumption to make. In awe, she stood in the middle of the small staircase leading from the door for a good minute or so.
"It's…huge!?" She both stated and questioned the vast size of the inside of the box; her eyes were perhaps wider than they had been in the presence of the Apepian! After letting this realization settle into her mind, she looked to the doctor once more. Man, he had a lot of explaining to do later. But for now, she knew it was time to focus on stopping those things. That was obviously why he was here, with his strange box and his quirky personality. She was still shaken, but she proceeded to ask him, "W..what the hell /was/ that thing?"
"Oh, it's just your standard energy sucking creature. Nothing to worry about!" The Doctor had answered her question, but he was worrying himself. "And sorry about the shock of the box. Everyone is surprised." He loved when people saw the TARDIS for the first time.
There was a loud bang from outside the box. All of a sudden, there was a sizzle and a pop. The TARDIS console started beeping and the controls were going mad! Small Apepians were everywhere! Then the big one appeared.
"Oh, great. You again?" the Doctor said when he saw the creature. He ran down to the area below the console, where there were a few tools. The small magnet lay on the ground and an Apepian slithered by. It started crackling, as if it were being electrocuted. Then it faded away. "Well, isn't that interesting!" the Doctor said, shocked at what he had witnessed. "So, Sierra, are you ready to help me stop these aliens?" he asked the girl as he straightened his bow tie, emerging from below.
He sounded like he dealt with these things quite often. That explained how little he seemed to mind jumping into the situation in the first place.
"It's alright.. I'm just glad to be safe and so-" Well, at least it was a nice thought. The console was enough to startle her once again, and this caused her to finally rush up the stairs and to the Doctor's side. Once it was apparent that there were creatures everywhere, she would NOT leave his side until they had a plan. So she scurried after him. "What in the world are we going to do!? There's got to be hundreds of..them.." The magnet incident caught her eye, and she trailed off. So, magnets were their weakness..? She stared down at the magnet as he asked her his question, and, looking up, felt newfound confidence. A slight smile had found its way to her lips. "Well, that sounds a hell of a lot better than dying."
The Doctor looked at the Apepian. Scared no longer, he said,
"So all it takes to get rid of you is a little opposite attraction?" The large Apepian sniggered,
"It will take much more to kill those of us that are at full capacity." The Doctor pointed the sonic at the magnet, then at the creature. He looked at Sierra.
"If I can make all the metal in the area release the negative attraction, then it will destroy the Apepians. Now, I need you to take my sonic and this magnet. Put it on the first metal pole you find and press the buttons on the sonic screwdriver. It should release a cloud of negative charge. Now, all I need to do is distract this Apepian so you can get out." The Doctor handed off the objects to Sierra, and made sure to show her what to press on the sonic. He climbed up the stairs and proceeded to taunt the beast.
Sierra eyes the sonic screwdriver as it was handed to her, taking a moment to examine it before going to take care of what she needed to.
"Right, you can count on me!" Smiling wider, now confident that they would be able to win, she rushed off to find the nearest metal pole, as instructed. It took a moment to find something she thought suitable, but she did, and shoved the magnet against it. She pressed down on the sonic screwdriver, and it emitted its familiar buzz, glowing bright green. 'Wow..' she thought, staring down at it. She liked this device, regardless of not knowing everything it was capable of. Within seconds, their plan began to take effect. The smaller creatures died off very quickly, littering the floor of the great ship before vanishing forever.
Inside, the Doctor talked to the Apepian.
"I'm sorry for what is about to happen. I don't want to destroy you, but I have no choice. But just know that I will always protect this planet. I'm the Doctor and these are my people." The creature responded,
"Doctor who?" This was its last question. The Doctor grinned, as he knew that Sierra had succeeded. He felt the rush of the charge and watched as the creature screamed in torment. It was separating and evaporating into nothing, as the negatively charged particles canceled out the positive charge of the monster. The Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS and saw the creatures disappearing everywhere. The lights began to turn back on in the area; his TARDIS made a low hum to show that it was in better condition. He looked at Sierra, the girl that had just saved him and all of New York.
Joining him outside his ship, she watched as the city came back to life. It was almost as awe-inspiring as everything that had come before it. With every light that flicked back on, the realization became clearer in her mind; she had just saved the entire city. Sierra Miller, nothing more than an artistic, lazy college student, had just saved New York City. As the Doctor looked to her, her mouth stretched up into a huge grin, and she leant back against the TARDIS.
"…we did it. We saved the whole /freakin' city/!" She stood up straight, jumping up briefly to express her joy. It was such a rush, having just done what many think they will never get the chance to do! She was a hero! Without hesitation, the girl reached over to the Doctor and embraced him for quite some time. "I just can't believe this!" she repeated a few times.
The Doctor held the girl for as long as she kept her arms around him. He was happy; he hadn't been happy since Amy was with him. He missed the feeling of saving people with his companions, he enjoyed the celebration he had with them; this feeling is what he lived for. Suddenly, he had a thought. He pushed the girl away gently, and looked her in the eyes.
"I have a question for you." He didn't think he would find someone this soon after Amy and Rory's demise. "Would you like to do things like this for an extended period of time?" Just as he asked the question, the rumble of a car coming down the street filled the air. It came to a stop nearby, and a man got out. He was tall, and looked nice. Approaching the pair, he addressed Sierra.
"Sorry I'm so late, Sierra. Did I miss anything?" Noah asked, as he wondered who was holding his friend and why he was wearing such strange clothes. More importantly, why was there a large blue police box in the middle of the street?
The question surprised her, and she definitely needed a moment to think about her answer; luckily, there Noah was. She grinned at him.
"Man, you missed a /lot/." She looked up at the Doctor, then back to Noah. "We just saved New York! And you could have too, if you'd just learn to be on time!" She stepped forward and gave him a friendly shove, as she was known to do. "And get this- we saved it from /aliens/."
"My phone was acting all weird, and the lights in the dorm hall kept flickering on and off. And what do you mean I missed a lot?" Noah asked his friend, then heard the response. She had saved New York and defeated aliens in the hour and a half he was late. Aliens!? He had always believe, but he never thought they would be real. Just some fantasy he made up. "I'm sorry, did you say aliens?" he asked Sierra, then glanced at the man. Who was he? "And who are you?" he asked the Doctor, who stood staring at him. He was about to ask this girl to come along with him, and this man just had to show up and interrupt that. He had the worst luck.
"You bet your ass I said aliens! That's what was up with the lights! These..these weird alien things, they were like snakes! And they were eating up all the electricity or something!" She flailed her arms out enthusiastically. "And one of them was like /thiiiiiis/," She stretched her arms all the way out, up and down, "And I was as good as dead until he showed up!" Sierra pointed over to the Doctor. "He said he's called the Doctor. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead, and so would you, and everyone else here! He's absolutely fantastic!"
Sierra had answered the question for Noah concerning the man. He was the "Doctor". What the hell does that mean? Noah also believed what Sierra was saying about the aliens. Why would she lie? Noah knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't ever lie. As Noah studied the man, he remembered seeing him in Central Park, a place he went to study, a few weeks ago, with a red haired girl and a skinny boy. He remembered thinking they looked out of place.
"I saw you a while back in the park with a man and woman," Noah stated. The Doctor looked down at his shoes, and felt a pang of sadness cross his hearts. "Yes, well they are gone now…" The Doctor liked traveling with two people. He rather enjoyed it over just one. He looked at the two humans. Two is better than one. Snapping back to the moment, he asked Sierra the question he had asked her before.
When he uttered words of the departure of his former companions, Sierra's stomach sank. Considering the things he must do on a daily basis, she couldn't begin to imagine what might have happened to them. But then came the question again.
"I.." With the thought of his previous friends in his mind, she hesitated a long while to think. Was it worth the risk? She would surely end up in much worse situations than she had experienced tonight. Although, what was she doing with her life, anyways..? In all honesty, she believed that her aspirations to become a famous artist would never be reached. So why was doing so much school work worth anything? Why not go live a life of wonder and adventure with a handsome man from beyond the stars? "I," she began again, pausing for a moment. "…I would love to come with you. But this dork is coming too." Grabbing Noah by the wrist, she pulled him over a bit closer and let a dorky grin grace her features once again. "And you don't have a choice, you /are/ coming!" She did something else she was well known for doing, making up his mind for him before he had any change to object.
The Doctor smiled and pointed toward the TARDIS.
"Are you ready for an adventure?" Noah looked at Sierra with happiness and fear. What was going to happen if they went?
"What do you do, Doctor?" Noah asked, before stepping inside the TARDIS.
"Well I save people and occasionally, I like to go hat shopping." the Doctor answered the confused boy. Noah always thought there was something greater out there in space. And he thought about destiny. He almost didn't bother coming here, to the library tonight. This was meant to be. Noah glanced at Sierra one more time,
"Are you sure?" The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS and waited. Would they both come or not?
"Would I say that you have absolutely no choice but to come with if I wasn't sure? It'll be great!" She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently and looking up at him. "Let's go have adventures. Let's explore and let's help the world. And let's do so with the Doctor." Letting him go, she rushed back into the TARDIS, filled with childish delight. "Thank you Doctor! Thank you for showing up here!"
Noah was taken by the beauty of the TARDIS. He stumbled for words. "What is this place?" he asked.
"Time and Relative Dimension in Space, or the TARDIS for short," said the funny man in the bowtie, "And this is where our story begins."