This took a lot out of me to write and drained me mentally. It's finally finished after hours of having to fix it because of technical difficulties. Enjoy :)
The TARDIS was empty and silent aside from the ever present whirring that meant it was functional. Unseen, inconceivable technology was safely tucked away behind the seemingly unnecessary panels along the walls that held impossible dimensions. They worked in the silence that would be proper silence if not for their steady stream of impossible tasks that powered the bigger-on-the-inside phone boxes' reputation for impossibility. Just when the emptiness was about to work out the fact that it couldn't know itself, the door at the far side swung open with its signature un-oiled squeaking.
"I can't believe it's still here," Amelia Pond said as she ambled in and slumped down onto the steps that led to the navigation console. "That went surprisingly smoothly for a change."
"Well what do you mean you can't believe it's still here? There's nothing sinister about a friendly visit to a carnival," The Doctor said defensively as he passed her on the steps before crossing to the other side of the console where the monitors' gibberish readings waited for him. Rory closed the door behind himself to join Amy in an unfaltering stare down at their already active pilot. The Doctor paused for a moment and caught their eyes. "You're right. Even non-human clowns give me the heebie-jeebies."
"Amy's right. I'm surprised we made it back to the TARDIS before finding out we were somehow stranded on that asteroid with nothing to do but figure out why people were dying," Rory said while Amy stared at The Doctor in disbelief.
"Clowns. You're afraid of clowns. "
"No! All I'm saying is they're a bit suspicious with their ridiculous getups and unnerving makeup…and the way they have that sort of frozen smile on their creepy clown faces- LOOK. That's not the point. Have some faith every once in a while." With his hand on the lever that would whisk them away into the time vortex, he looked up and around at nothing in particular. "Don't worry, I appreciate you."
He pulled the lever and they were greeted by the familiar sound the TARDIS made that meant The Doctor left the breaks on again.
"Right. Now that were safely in space and-"
"Away from those scewwy clowns... "
"Away from those lovely entertainers, we can decide where we'll visit next," The Doctor said peevishly.
"Well its my turn to choose the destination," Amy said with a grin. "The Exodor was beautiful, really, and the Asteroid Belt Carnival was…cute. But I'm craving a bit of adventure. Intrigue. Mystery."
Rory did nothing to hide his hurt expression while The Doctor mouthed 'Mystery' with a confused one.
"I heard a man by the cotton candy stand back on the asteroid mention an 'empty planet' with nothing but a meadow, a forest, and an abandoned mansion. I guess empty means void of intelligent life."
As Amy disappeared behind the wall of the hallway that led to her bedroom, The Doctor was busy not manning the controls but staring after her in solemn contemplation. His face hard and unreadable, he called after her.
"Did he mention a location?" The Doctor placed his hands on the edge of the console and stared at his fingers while he waited for a reply.
"What's wrong?" Rory broke the silence with a concerned look when Amy called for The Doctors patience while she changed out of her clothes. The Doctor looked up at him, scrutinized the question for a moment, and then swiveled around to lean against the console with his arms crossed and head angled up at the ceiling of the TARDIS.
"Well we need the location don't we? Awaiting Miss Ponds' return with the coordinates."
"But you made a face when she mentioned the planet. As if you were making a connection."
"Rory. Don't be so analytical. It's rather mysterious. Intriguing. Adventurous. Amy's empty planet."
Rory sent a sidelong glance at the floor before shaking his head; dismissing The Doctors momentary solemnity. When Amy returned moments later, The Doctor was as gleefully curious as ever.
"What's with you?" Amy stared at Rory inquisitively.
"Nothing. Where's this planet?"
"Here." She'd been holding a slip of paper between her fingers. The Doctor took the slip and held it at arms length. With his eyes squinting, he then held it close to his face and glanced up at Amy who was staring at him as if he was supposed to suddenly leap into action.
"Right... right right right. Okay." The Doctor straightened himself, placed the slip of paper on the console and then clapped his hands before his beaming face. "Off we go!"
It was less twirly than usual but The Doctor and his TARDIS proceeded to dance. That's what Amy saw. Rory was busy hanging on to whatever fixtures almost came in contact with his face each time he was wrenched from the previous assailant. Whenever Amy saw her doctor flying his ship, she always likened it to a man immersed in a mock waltz with a lifeless dummy. As she struggled to keep her footing, her thoughts were suddenly invaded by a chilling curiosity about what the empty destination would hold. It
wasn't fear that she felt, or even caution. She wasn't steeling herself for what dangers might arise in a deserted world. Before she could decide what she was thinking, her mind was invaded by a new feeling.
A craving. A profound curiosity. A need.
As the TARDIS shuddered to an unmistakable halt, the Doctor was already advancing toward the door.
"I made sure we hadn't traveled in time so that whatever caused the planet to be deserted wouldn't still be wreaking havoc or returning."
"This is going to be so cool. Imagine an entire deserted planet filledwith everything a planet would have if it were occupied," Rory said almost under his breath.
Amy nodded. "Right. Imagine that. Because you won't be seeing that today. Like I said, it's just a meadow, a forest, and an abandoned mansion. Doctor? Lead the way."
The Doctor, at her right, had been staring at her with a blank face while she spoke. At the sound of his name, he snapped back into focus.
"Right you are! Just…Let me see…" With his right hand positioned under his chin and his left crossed to support his right arm by the elbow, The Doctor scaled along the right side of the door leading out of the TARDIS until he reached a lever that neither Amy nor Rory had noticed before. "Ah! Here we are. . ."
He then placed both hands firmly on the handle at the very top of the lever, positioned his feet to brace himself, and then pulled hard.
"Do you need help?" Rory asked pathetically while The Doctors' face contorted with the effort.
"No. No," He managed to choke out before the lever finally lurched into place with a heavy click.
"Wow. I haven't pulled this lever in ages."
"What's it do?" Both Amy and Rory said simultaneously.
The Doctor looked up at them both, wiped his hands together three times and then said happily, "Its an anchor. Well. It does the same thing as an anchor. It's a timey whimey anchor. It deploys a quantum locked field that encases the TARDIS and locks its coordinates. Keeps the TARDIS here and now." He beamed at them as if this was the most clever thing he'd ever done.
"You're joking," Rory said with disbelief.
"You mean all this time..."
"Yes! I know! Isn't it great? Now she'll stay put." With this he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He stared at them both with a smug grin.
'Why haven't you used this before?" Amy asked, incredulous.
"Well its MY TARDIS! Never thought it was necessary. Great big planet filled with nothing? Perfect time to make sure it stays put." He rubbed his hands together again, this time more briskly. "Right! We've got a planet to explore! Adventure and all that!" He pushed past them both and opened the door to step out into a thick forest unbroken except for what appeared to be a clearing about 10 meters straight ahead. The others followed him out onto the twig swathed ground. Every step conjured up a cascade of
snapping and crunching. They made their somewhat silent procession toward the clearing with The Doctor swinging his arms and humming to himself. When they finally reached the last bit of branches that would stick out and whack Rory in random places after Amy and the Doctor made their way through them, everyone but the Doctor himself let out a
sigh.
A grand, imposing building lay before them. It had to be at least 300 feet high and stretched from one end of the seemingly endless row of trees to their left to the identically infinite length of trees to their right. 'Manor' was definitely an understatement. As for the details of this monstrosity of a property, both Amy and Rory had a hard time focusing on anything in particular. It seemed exactly like what you'd expect a mansion to look like except each time either of them tried to get a good look at it, they would be whisked
back to their awe at its size. At once, both female and male left legs simultaneously stepped forward to approach the architectural maw. The Doctors arms flung out to stop them.
"Wait."
"What for?" Amy asked.
Something seemed to snap for Rory, because his glazed look was suddenly replaced by concern.
"Maybe we should just get back to the TARDIS. No need to throw ourselves into a mess. We have enough of them throwing themselves at us."
"What? I told you. The man I overheard said it was abandoned. Said he was coming here with his friends to check it out. He even said he heard about it from his sister who came here with her two daughters and son."
"I don't know Amy. There's something about this thing that just doesn't feel right."
"Oh shove off Rory, you big wuss. At any rate, this is my trip. I had to spend hours waiting outside the petting zoo while you worked up the courage to touch the baby Chimera."
"That's not fair. My trip was harmless," His voice cracked on 'fair'. "This is insane!"
"The Doctor doesn't think it's insane! He egged me on. Right Doctor? …Doctor?"
Silence from the Doctor.
"Doctor? DOCTOR!" Rory yelled at the Doctors rigid expression. Both Amy and Rory stared at him. They exchanged a glance before staring at him for a few more
seconds. Then, almost on cue, they followed his gaze.
And found the Doctor.
Off to the right, skirting the edge of the forest, a man in blue trousers and light brown button down shirt complete with bow tie was walking fast straight for them. He wasn't wearing the coat and was covered in a swath of broken twigs and leaves but was unmistakable. As he got closer, he and our Doctor exchanged a cursory nod. But that was it for the transaction between Doctor and Doctor. He started to slow down as he approached us but he was almost one with the forest when he abruptly stopped. The Forest had provided a night like cover that protected the trio from rays that seemed to come from nowhere; at least neither human amongst the group could see their source. But now that they had reached the clearing and stood silently while the second Doctor made his approach, it was unmistakably twilight. Amy guessed that the planet must rotate fairly quickly, but this was a fleeting thought. Instead her mind was preoccupied with what came out of the second Doctors mouth at that moment. His face cast in shadow.
"Amy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
And he was gone. The three stood there quietly while the forest swallowed him up. About thirty seconds passed before Amy opened her mouth to speak. But what she tried to say was drowned out by a heart sinking noise.
"That'll be the TARDIS," The Doctor said.
Through the branches, you could just make out the light at the top of the police box winking out.
"What?" Rory choked out.
"The TARDIS. That was the TARDIS. It's gone. So much for a harmless look-around. We'll have to press on then. No way back, so we might as well work our way towards whatever led to me getting the TARDIS back." As he said this, The Doctor had taken three deliberate steps toward the mansion with his arms up in the same fashion as when he had been back in the TARDIS making his way toward the elusive
lever. Rory threw his arms up in exasperation and then ran them through his hair in frustration whilst facing the opposite direction.
Amy pressed on, ignoring the second Doctors' apology for what he hadn't yet done.
"But you can't be serious. What happened to the quantum locked, timey whimey anchoring field thing you were on about? You know, the one that was supposed to keep the TARDIS from wandering off?"
"Low level psychic field. Bit stronger than my psychic paper. It's the reason neither of you have noticed it before. You can't see it unless you're looking for it; shifts your focus slightly to the right whenever you happen to look at it. I was obviously looking for it." He ran his hand through his hair. "That's not the point. We need to figure out what led me to stealing the TARDIS from myself-" .
"Well we already know the answer to that question." Rory said with a cursory gesture in the Doctors direction.
"Really? Why?" The Doctor probed.
Rory held his arm up at the Doctor, hand outstretched. "You just bloody stole it from yourself"
"I mean what allowed me to steal it in the first place." He said in disappointment.
"And why Rory and I weren't tagging along. Maybe that's why you apologized." Amy said as she stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. "Doctor. You better not abandon me and Rory here. If you do, you will be sorry."
"Well I obviously don't plan to but what can I do?" He didn't mention the fact that he hadn't addressed the two of them when he apologized.
"I say we get going then. As much as that building creeps me out, I feel like I need to know what's inside," Rory said.
"Same," Amy confirmed.
"I couldn't care less what's inside if not for finding out what technology an abandoned building on an abandoned planet could possibly contain that would enable time travel. It had to be an abandoned mansion too. Let me guess, riddled with random rooms and creaking wood and dull red carpet," He said with a hint of disgust for what he obviously found cliché. "Next we'll be chased around by Casper and open doors that lead to other rooms on the same hallway." With that he began to make his way toward the grand staircase leading to the front entrance. Amy and Rory exchanged a glance and followed a little less reluctantly than they should have.
As the two approached the ornate, fifteen-foot-tall door, they found a Doctor complete with stethoscope acting as if he were checking the buildings heart beat.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked, ahead of Amy.
"What do you mean what am I doing? Come on Rory use your head. It's a stethoscope. All Doctors carry one.
"But what are you checking for? It's empty," Amy said as Rory gestured his exasperation.
"I'm checking for exactly what possessed me to break out the quantum anchor back on the TARDIS of course. Like I said. This place is abandoned. All the more reason to make sure nothings here. Why don't you two quit nagging?" With this, he stepped back. "It's quiet. Dead. Empty. Void. ..see for yourself." He passed the stethoscope on to Amy.
As soon as she pressed the diaphragm to the door, she flew back and ripped the headset from her ears to hold her hands to them in protest. "Ah!"
"Did someone just knock?" Rory exclaimed as he pointed at the door with one arm and held Amy with the other.
"Sorry," The Doctor said to Amy with an apologetic look. After a pause, he turned back to the door and answered, "Who's there?"
"Someone knocks from the inside, and you decide to ask who it is."
"Rory hush."
Another two knocks.
"Yes we've been through this. Who is there?" The Doctor answered impatiently.
"Doctor, we're outside," Amy said as she finished rubbing her ears and was relinquished by Rory. "If anything, we should be knocking back."
"That's not how this works Amy."
Another two knocks.
"WHO'S THERE?" The doctor said forcefully. "This is where you answer back. Then I repeat your answer followed by "who", the humor being that I'm carrying on as if I want to know what your last name is, and then you return with the punch line. We laugh, you laugh, we all carry on as if knock-knock- jokes are still funny and you feel better about yourself. Now lets try this again."
The door shuddered twice.
"We should probably get out of the way," Rory said quickly as he shuffled away with Amy's hand firmly grasped with one of his own. But instead of giving way, she stood her ground and Rory's hand was pulled away as she let go.
"The lock is on the outside," she said as she pointed at the handle of the door with her other arm.
"Yea. I noticed. But it doesn't look like whatever's trying to make us laugh cares to wait for you to let it out. So move." His last word was drowned out by the Doctors reply to Amy.
"Go on then Amy. Unlock it."
"What?," Rory said desperately as Amy reached forward. Her hand grasped the lock and turned slowly. An audible click was followed by continued silence from within. With this, Amy grasped both handles of the double door and pulled. They swung open easily to reveal a vast entrance hall that led to a grand staircase that parted at the top, leading to unseen passageways.
Along either side of the entrance hall were a multitude of doors that led to the various extremities of what looked more like a castle from within than a mansion. Sure enough, the ground that led to the grand staircase was covered by a beautiful red, tasseled carpet that did not stop at the foot of the stairs.
"Of course. Being attacked by some hulking beast would have been too straightforward," The Doctor said disappointedly as he entered the mansion while Amy and Rory finished taking it all in. After a few more seconds passed, Amy, followed by the ever reluctant Rory, entered the empty building. Rory stared straight ahead at the Doctor who had his hands planted firmly in the side pockets of his trousers while Amy twisted and turned with her head angled up at the barren ceiling.
"What's lighting this place?" She asked the ceiling followed by her voice rushing toward the walls and bouncing back to complete another lap. Indeed, whatever cast the long shadows of the pillars on either side of the hall was out of view. There were huge painted glass windows along the walls near the ceiling but all they did was slightly lighten the pillars shadows. Rory spun around with a confused look on his face.
"I don't know. Whatever it is must be invisible."
With his arms planted firmly on either side of his waist, The Doctor gave the two a long, hard look before swiveling back around to approach the staircase.
"Shouldn't we find out what's behind these doors?" Amy asked. She then deviated from the red carpet altogether and made a B-line for the edge of the hall. The Doctor turned with one foot on the first step of the staircase and silently observed as Amy turned the doorknob to an unmarked door. It swung open silently-
To reveal nothing.
"Pitch black," Amy muttered. She stepped inside.
"Amy!" Rory called after her. With this, he ran for the room quickly followed by the Doctor. Before he could reach them, both the Pond's had been swallowed up by the black.
"Pitch dark room. What do you do? Enter it! Never mind what dangers may be lurking." The Doctor stopped right at the threshold. "You two all right? I didn't hear a scream yet or perhaps the sound of flesh being stripped from your lifeless skeletons."
"Amy? Amy where are you?" The Doctor could her Rory probing for the silent Amy. "Ow!"
"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked the darkness.
"I've tripped over something…It feels like…Amy? Amy? AMY! Oh god!"
The Doctor bounded inside. "What is it what's wrong?" The dark room was suddenly illuminated by the steady green glow of the Doctors screwdriver. Rory was on his knees cradling nothing.
"What are you doing Rory? I'm right here!" said Amy's voice. With this the Doctor lifted the screwdriver to cast its light over the confused Amy.
"I thought- but." He look down at his empty arms. "I tripped over something and it was just in my arms when- why didn't you say anything?"
"I've been shouting your name since you entered the room and called for me."
"I didn't hear anything but what I thought was you slumping to the ground," He said quickly, now on his feet looking slightly peeved but trembling. He stepped forward and embraced Amy. When they separated and turned to the Doctor who had the screwdrivers' light illuminating his own face, they found a furrowed brow on a head that was slightly tilted in their direction.
"Okay. Fascinating..."
"Doctor. . .what just happened?" Amy asked.
"Well you just launched yourself into an unknown darkness followed by Rory who called for you only to trip over what he thought was your lifeless body. He couldn't hear you assuring him that you were fine and assumed the worst. I came in and activated my screwdriver to see what the hell was going on and then you asked me what just happened," He gasped for air at the last word. "Don't look so annoyed, you asked for a recap," he said as he exited the room.
Back in the entrance hall with Amy and Rory in his wake, The Doctor continued his assessment.
"A knocking at the door from the inside followed by a great big empty entrance hall with no beast to swallow us up. The very same devoid-of-life entrance hall is lit by nothing, except it's lit by something from your two's perspective. Amy decides to try a suspicious door without so much as steeling herself for what she can't possibly know is waiting for her followed by, to Rory's horror, a non-existent Amy-shaped lifeless object
finding its way to the floor while Amy tries to reassure Rory that she's fine only to have her voice not reach his ears…
It seems as if something or someone who shouldn't even exist is meddling with our minds. It obviously affects you two much more severely than me. But why? And for what purpose? So far it's been nonsensical. Unless I'm missing some crucial point." He swiveled around on the spot and stared at the silent couple with a look that suggested school teacher who wanted to know if her students had been paying attention. "Well? Can either of you contribute?"
"You said the entrance hall is lit by 'nothing but something to us two that can't be seen.' What does that mean?" Amy asked.
"This hall is dimly lit by those windows." He impatiently pointed up at where the wall met the curved ceiling. "I can barely see you two."
"No...this entire hallway is brightly lit. We can see your face clear...ly..." Rory's voice trailed off as the Doctors face was slowly concealed by darkness.
"But that's impossible…Why are the lights going out?" Amy asked, incredulous.
"Nonexistent lights can't go out Amy." Both Rory and Amy stared up at the darkening ceiling in wonder. The shadows that were previously cast by the pillars on either side of the hallway fused with the barely lit floor.
"Don't worry. Focus on something other than the shroud of true darkness and you'll be able to make out my every detail once again," The Doctor said with a beaming smile that his two companions could just barely make out in the gloom.
"It's not going away," Amy said when she opened her eyes after ten seconds of concentration.
Rory could be seen a few feet to her left shaking his head and spinning around as if he was looking for the switch that the Doctor must have sonic'd when they weren't paying attention.
"Of course it isn't. You're concentrating. I told you to do the opposite," The Doctor said in exasperation. "So. Lets tally up the absurdities. Ghost plays a knock-knock joke at the front door that never got a punch line. Amy, quite frankly hideously out of character, enters a room at random that just so happens to be devoid of light. Rory finds her dead and can't hear the real Amy speak for the duration of this discovery. An almost just as pitch dark hall is illuminated by both your inner eyes," The Doctor swiveled
around and stared up at the staircase at the end of the hall. "What else what else?"
"You stole the TARDIS from yourself."
"That doesn't count. Completely unrelated."
"Completely unrelated?" Amy asked. "It's the reason we're wandering this god forsaken castle."
"No…It isn't…Amy who did you say handed you that slip with the address written on it?"
"I didn't. A man back on the asteroid was talking about it to his…friends. He was relaying where here was located to someone in his group who was writing it down. They walked off and left the slip behind…I just…took it. Fascinated. That's when you two got back from the restroom."
"And it was a bloke who kept raving about it eh? Was he tall? Wearing a jacket? Colorful shoes? Dark skin? Giant rainbow afro? What did his shirt say? Did anyone in the group laugh at a joke while me and Rory were gone? Was he wearing a bow tie perhaps...?"
Amy tried to keep up with the Doctors rapid firing of questions. Every other question, preceded by a confused shake of the head, was greeted with a subdued "No..." Or "I don't know" or "I wasn't paying attention to that." After about twenty seconds of this, Amy placed her let hand on her forehead and held her right hand up to silence the Doctor.
"This is so odd. . .The trouble is. . .he could have been wearing a jacket. . .He might have had an afro and there's a strong chance that it was rainbow colored. . .He was definitely wearing a Bow tie. . .I don't think anyone was laughing but a lot of them were stifling laughter. . . .this is so confusing. . .My head hurts.. .how. . .how could you know?"
"I don 't know. To tell you the truth Amy, I don't think there was a group of carnival goers just chatting about an abandoned planet. Amy, what you just experienced is the brains uncanny ability to doctor your memories based on the power of suggestion. Usually it isn't so strong but since that encounter back on the asteroid didn't even happen...since it itself was doctored into the fabric of your memory, the details
were already sketchy to begin with."
"What do you mean it didn't happen? Of course it did. I saw them. I got the slip that led us here-I…I…
"Overheard a tall man in what could have been a jacket with what could have been a rainbow afro wearing what might have been a bow tie who could have possibly been wearing shoes that matched his ridiculous hair talking about an abandoned planet in the middle of a bustling carnival next to a cotton candy stand."
Amy stared at the doctor with her brow furrowed and her lips slightly pursed.
"The point is, There's a motive. It seems as if everything that's happened so far is completely unrelated. . .as if you two have just been having mental hiccups. . .I didn't think much of it at first but that slip of paper you gave me. ..it had such specific coordinates. ..not just specific coordinates but only coordinates. I flew the TARDIS to a very specific point in the universe. . .but planets don't sit still. They orbit something. They're satellites. I wasn't told to fly the TARDIS to such and such planet in so and so
quadrant of some sector of a galaxy. All the slip said was 'x,y,z', and I just punched it in."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Exactly. What does it have to do with anything? It doesn't. That makes it have everything to do with everything…But things aren't completely random and sporadic. The connection is just very obscure…Where's Rory?" The Doctor spun around, looking for the silent Rory.
"He wandered off to investigate when you were explaining how to turn the lights back on."
The Doctor looked over her head as she spoke and suddenly bounded off in the opposite direction of the staircase. Amy twisted on the spot to follow his flight. She called out before doing so.
"Doctor! Wait!"
At the far end of the hallway near the entrance to the mansion, a door with a steady light pouring past its deployed hinges could be seen. That's what Amy and the Doctor headed for. When they finally reached it, they hesitated at the threshold and peered inside. An unmistakable maze of hallways and side passages lay before them.
"So Rory, the careful one, wanders off into a maze. Add that to the list."
"It's not a maze. We just need to follow it until we find an open door. He wasn't in a hurry to hide this one," Amy said as she slightly panted. "Hang on. If he's the careful one...-"
"You're the not careful one." And he was off.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy asked, vindicated.
"Nothing. What do you suppose he was looking for?"
"Dunno. It's definitely not like him."
"Well obviously. Quit being redundant. RORY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Amy mouthed 'fine' with an ironic look.
They walked down the very long hallway, stopping only to take a peek down side corridors in hopes of spotting the telltale sign of light pouring from a doorway. When they reached the end of the hallway without spotting one, The Doctor broke the silence.
"Perhaps we should split up? You know. Pick a corridor and run the length of it. Maybe he's in another pitch dark room."
"No, I don't think we should separate. We'll never find each other."
"You want to be careful..." The Doctor pulled out a notebook and penciled something in. "Gotcha. Lead the way then."
"Fine we'll split up," Amy snapped.
"No no, bad idea. Very bad."
"But you just said-"
"I was checking on something and happened to be right. We can't split up; are you mad? A maze filled with psychological pitfalls? I'll never find your hallucination-induced fetal positioned body."
"Doctor, I think I'll be fine. We need to split up. You're right, I was…befuddled…Rory won't be with us any faster if we stay together and I'm starting to get fed up with deliberating about it," Her voice was tinged with unmistakable desperation. She seemed on the verge of tears.
"Amy calm down. He'll be fine. If we split up, you'll only get trapped somewhere and then we won't find Rory at all," she leaned in to hug him at these words, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"You're right. What do we do?"
"Well for one thing, don't do that. We can't lose ourselves in here. We might as well walk the length of each side corridor checking each door in case it's open. . .don't forget to shout his name for what good it will do. The most important thing is neither of us can end up like him. Do NOT lose me. Do you hear me Amy? You cannot lose me or I'll have to look for both of you."
Just as she nodded her head after wiping the tears from her eyes, all hell broke lose. The first thing that reached both of their ears was Rory's scream.
"I SURRENDER!"
Both heads turned in opposite directions.
"I SURRENDER! PLEASE!"
"EXTERMINATE!"
Amy cupped her hand to her mouth and stretched her eyes out wide before whispering under her breath. "No."
The Doctor's face was stone cold while he shook his head. "It can't be."
"EXTERMINATE! "
"NO! PLEASE! I SURRENDER!"
"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINA TED. YOUR LIFE STATUS WILL BE RECTIFIED!"
"Rory!" Amy shrieked.
At that moment, Both Amy and the Doctor bounded off in search of the endangered Rory. As for the Doctor, he wasted no time in kicking down each door along the length of the corridor that started immediately to their right. Before he entered said corridor, he was tightly followed by the desperate Amy. But as he turned into his Rory's corridor, Amy sent a cursory, slightly confused glance in his direction as she kept a steady, unfaltering B-line for the end of the hallway. After passing at least eight different silent corridors, she had to keep herself from falling over when she suddenly stopped in her tracks in response to loud, running footsteps followed by the unmistakable sound of a Dalek firing its laser cannon into a wall that sounded like it shattered.
"EEEEXTERMINAAAAATE!"
"Rory!" Amy yelled as she spun around on the spot to enter the corridor just before the one she had passed a second ago. Her feet hurt as she bounded down the corridor in pursuit of what looked like nothing. The entire corridor was deserted.
Nonetheless, she could hear far off cannon firing, apparently
missing its target. The sound of frantic footsteps entered her ears when she stopped for breath. Every few seconds, she could hear shuffling as another cannon fire collided with an unseen wall. Her head would twist this way and that each time she heard the telltale noise of Dalek and man dueling for their respective goals.
After a pause, she resumed bounding off to the end of the hallway, hoping her husbands bid for survival would last long enough for her to interfere.
Back with the Doctor, he was just finishing kicking down the last door on the right side of his corridor when the fifteenth "EXTERMINATE" permeated the walls that surrounded a room on the other side of the hallway. He spun around with an exasperated look on his face to address Amy when he realized he was alone.
"No no no no no NO NO! AMY!" Instead of running off to rejoin the now missing Amy, he slumped to the ground with his back against the wall and his right hand
running through his unkempt, sweaty hair, owning up to the futility of pursuing her. He ignored the electronic voice that wouldn't stop rambling on about Dalek supremacy.
Amy was still in frantic pursuit of her Rory who was probably dead by the sound of the laser cannons that didn't meet her ears. Her eyes were streaming with tears that slid across her wild eyed face and stopped at her neck where they finally dried off after hugging her skin, made aerodynamic by her frantic momentum. At this point, she was randomly twisting and turning around the labyrinth of hallways and doors with nothing to guide her except for desperation and adrenaline.
She too slumped to the ground. But rather than bang her fist in frustration, she submitted to her fears and, with both hands firmly cradling her head, began to weep. A whole minute passed before he spoke.
"Amy?" Rory whispered, unseen.
"Rory? RORY?"
"Shhh!" His shocked call for silence seemed to come from the door directly adjacent to the one in front of her.
"Rory where are you? Where's the Dalek?" She whispered.
"I shook it off. It must still be looking for me. Try and make your way over to my room without making too much noise."
Perhaps overcome by the euphoria that came in the wake of the sudden appearance of her husband, she didn't question this impossible reunion. Nevertheless, her voice kept to a whisper, she responded.
"I think I know which room you're in. I'm coming," she whispered. Slowly crawling on her knees in the direction of the door that would lead her to her lover, she wiped the tears from her face which was covered in faded streams of dark eyeliner. When she reached the door, she did not hesitate in turning its creaking doorknob.
As the door slid open, her face was illuminated by a bright, white light.
The Doctor made his silent procession along the corridor that had previously been ravaged by his kicking leg. As he walked, his face was contorted in silent contemplation.
Each door that he had kicked in on his way down the other direction in search of
Rory was lined with long, well kept red grass. Steady, warm sunlight shone from whatever opening it could find.
On the other side of the hallway, behind the closed doors that stood opposite the ones that sounded as if Rory had been crying in anguish from within, a symphony of "Doctor!" and "John!" could be heard. It wasn't until one of them was carried by the sound of an elderly woman's voice that the Doctor finally stood still and held his hands up to his temples. After a few seconds passed, the din was silenced. Just as the
Doctor turned onto the main corridor and exited the hallway of voices, a far off explosion shook the walls. He stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes tight, and then peeked back around the edge of the wall to take a look, his face solemn. He could just barely hear screams coming from very far away but unmistakably from within the doors on the left side. He pulled away from the barely audible horror before he had to watch the
Sunlight streaming in through the doors wink out.
The Doctor walked the length of the main corridor without a real purpose. His left hand was in his left pocket while his right hand twirled his sonic screwdriver about. He knew exactly what was going on. On the left side of the corridor, whatever was meddling with the trios minds was showing him his home planet of Gallifrey. When he'd looked through the doorways, it seemed as if the doors had been mounted on the side of a wall mounted at the top of a very tall Cliffside overlooking the capital city.
On the right side of the corridor, from within the doors he hadn't opened, he was hearing his friends calling out for his help.
After about thirty seconds of silent walking, he heard a muffled sound.
"I'm sorry." Followed by what sounded like the door to the TARDIS closing quickly with a bang.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Something about this noise sounded real. It didn't have the sort of hazy, unfocused fringe that lined your dreams to mask the fact that your subconscious can't account for every detail.
"What are you doing?" Rory's voice. Definitely Rory's voice.
"I lied to her Rory. . .There can never be two Amy's in the TARDIS. The Paradox would be too massive."
"You can't leave her she'll die!"
"No she'll never have existed"
The Doctor took exactly ten steps forward, down the main corridor and five steps leading to the front of one of the doors along the seemingly random side passage. He stopped at the door and held his ear to it, the screwdriver clamped in his clammy left hand.
"When we save our own Amy this future won't have happened."
"BUT SHE HAPPENED- SHE'S THERE!"
"I trusted you!" Amy's voice.
The Doctor closed his eyes and unfocused his hearing. He knew exactly what was going on. He could hear snatches of the conversation each time he failed to ignore it.
"It's your choice." A pause.
"This isn't fair."
The Doctor outside the door mouthed 'you're turning me into you', synced with Rory's voice.
Silence. Or at least close to silence. Finally, true silence. The Doctor lifted himself up off the ground, out of his slumped position up against the door and turned the knob. He found the TARDIS in its entirety.
On the other side of the room was this version of the TARDIS's front door. Rory had one arm extended upward to meet Amy's hand pressed up against the glass on the outside. His head was against the door, and he was sobbing. Every few seconds his body would shudder. Otherwise, Rory was alone.
The Doctor just stared at the back of Rory's head. After a while, he tried to speak.
"Rory, this isn't real. You need to focus-"
"THIS ISN'T YOUR CHOICELSHE ISN'T YOURS TO THROW AWAY!"
"Rory-"
"UNLOCK IT! UNLOCK IT NOW!" Rory rounded on the doctor and stared at him in anger; his eyes ringed with red.
"I can't."
"Yes you can. . .you can. ..unlock it. . . .UNLOCK IT!" He spun back around and shook the door of the TARDIS violently. Amy spoke.
"Tell Amy...your Amy...I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come. The days I can't have. Take them-" She was cut off by a sickening noise. Amy hand slumped from the glass and was gone.
Rory stared at the window, shocked. After a moment, his head dropped and he spoke.
"That was Amy. My Amy. She just died. Even if she isn't the Amy here and now, she was still Amy. And you just locked her out. Imagine how she felt when she stared into your eyes while you stared unblinkingly back at hers. Imagine how she felt when you apologized for what you hadn't yet done. Her Doctor. The man she met when she was seven. Deciding that she didn't deserve to exist anymore."
"Rory this isn't how it happened."
"THIS ISN'T HOW IT HAPPENED? IT JUST HAPPENED!"
Still crying, he pushed past the doctor out into the corridor.
"I see she isn't with you. Right. So I need you to help me find her. But once we do, I can't travel with you anymore. You were right all along. You bring destruction in your wake. I'll convince Amy and we'll say our goodbyes."
The Doctor simply walked past him in turn.
On the floor lay a weeping seven year old girl with red hair. She was in her nightgown, arms hugging her furled knees. But this was the second thing Amy noticed. On the wall directly opposite her was a very large, gaping crack. Bright white light spilled from it, whitewashing the walls. The little girl looked up at her.
"I tried to stop him. The man. He kept saying he'd protect me. Said he needed to take a closer look at that thing", she gestured at the rip in time.
"No," Amy breathed. "No," she held her hand to her mouth and slumped to her knees. Her husbands name was the last thing she said before the mental collapse.
Everything came crashing down. She saw Rory laughing. Rory scared. Rory being brave. She saw Rory saving her life countless times. Every time she envisioned Rory doing something human, The Doctor was always in the background watching. Just
in the background. Always falling short. Always causing some kind of sadness. His visage slowly took on a dark aura. She didn't see him in the light. She saw him drenched in shadow. Always in the background; always the direct cause of sorrow. When she finally broke tree of her semi-coma, it was in the arms of Rory.
A real Rory. A physical Rory. She didn't know how much time had passed while she spiraled through countless scenarios that led to strife and mental disarray. But she was in Rory's arms now, and she was happy.
Rory shielded his eyes from the bright light that shown through the crack but Amy's perception had already darkened. There was no crack in the wall. Even the little girl was gone.
She looked up at the Doctor. He was standing at the door, behind Rory. Always in the background.
"Amy, I've just been trying to tell Rory. This isn't real. None of it is. Something is giving us all hallucinations. That's why we both ran in different directions after the Dalek…It's trying to unhinge us. Please don't let it."
Rory carried her from the room with the Doctor in his wake. They walked back to the entrance hall without bumping into some new danger. At the bottom of the steps, Rory held Amy in his arms. Side by side they sat, with the Doctor standing about twenty feet from them, about a tenth of the way to the front door of the mansion. The entire entrance hall was lit by the light streaming in from the windows near the roof. Neither Amy nor Rory could see any fake lights anymore.
"It's mid day. How long have we been here?" Rory asked, clearly puzzled.
"About thirty five days or so," The Doctor said. "The planet performs an entire rotation in an amount of time akin to. . .say. . .three minutes? In earth time, I can't be certain but we've been here for almost two hours perhaps?"
Amy and Rory sat in a tight embrace for about five empty planet days, never moving from the foot of the stairs.
The Doctor just sat on the floor, still about twenty feet behind. On the sixth day, he broke the silence.
"You're both traumatized."
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since you've gotten here, you've been attacked psychologically. You're being broken." .
"Broken? What do you mean broken?" Rory asked, apprehensive.
"Are you familiar with a Venus Flytrap?" This time Amy responded.
"You mean the plants that attack insects?" ,
"Yes precisely," The Doctor held his head in his hands. "We're in a Venus Flytrap."
"What do you mean?" Rory asked.
"This mansion, or rather this entire planet to us is a Venus Flytrap. Well ...more like a mansion living-thing with a conscious mind trap. We came here because Amy was baited. Someone or something sent a signal powerful enough to reach us back on the asteroid; to reach Amy. It pulled her in. Amplified her craving for adventure."
"Hang on. Venus Flytraps eat their prey."
"It has been eating us. Trying to eat me in my case. It's been digesting us. The knocking at the front door followed by the dark room that Amy decided to enter was the saliva. It broke down the simple sugars. In this case, the simple sugars were our confidence. We were thrown off by the apparent danger. That maze of hallways was the esophagus. Well...if an esophagus was filled with stomach acid. That's where the metaphor for the human digestive track gets inconsistent. Try and follow along anyways."
"Don't. . .patronize us. Don't lecture us with that condescending tone," Amy said. She stood up in anger. "If this is a Venus Flytrap, and I'm the reason we're caught in it, what's behind that door?" She pointed up the staircase at the giant, imposing doorway that stood at the top.
The Doctor had a pained expression while he answered. "That's the stomach."
"Well we're not staying behind if that's what you're leading to. We can handle whatever's inside,"
Amy said with her Arms crossed.
"Amy the stomachs where the food gets stripped down," Rory said as he gestured to the top of the staircase with his outstretched hand. He looked up at the Doctor with a sidelong glance when he interjected.
"I wasn't going to try and convince you two stay back here. Unless I tied you both down, you'd eventually convince yourselves it's necessary."
"Well. Lead the way Doctor." Amy stood up rom the step on the staircase that she had then been sitting on, wrapped in Rory's arms.
Now standing, the two were still in a less than perfectly tight embrace at the foot of the stairs while the Doctor silently overtook them and made his way up the staircase.
After another hug, the Doctor's companions followed his lead.
The Doctor pulled out his stethoscope for the second time when he reached the top of the stairs.
While he silently pressed the diaphragm to the door, Amy broke the silence.
"Doctor, didn't I mention a meadow? Back on the TARDIS."
"You did Amy."
"Well where is it?"
"Cross your fingers this door doesn't lead to it."
"Why?"
With this, he pulled off the stethoscope and pushed the double doors open to reveal a true spectacle. It was perhaps the most insignificantly significant thing Amy ever laid her eyes on. Behind the door was the largest ball room she could possibly imagine. From the outside, she could tell that it was truly massive, but as she entered it after Rory and The Doctor, she wasn't prepared for the rush of air that escaped her lips at the unfathomably massive dancing hall.
"It's. . .a ballroom," Rory breathed.
They continued along a single file path to the center of the ball room while Amy methodically twirled on the spot to take it all in. It was just as dim as the entrance hall before it but had an intuitive sort of pathway system that made it easy enough for them to navigate; perfectly straight in a tight line.
"This will take a week or so," the Doctor said, his voice returning every few seconds, more faint with each passing.
Amy and Rory were taken in by the shear size and elaborate pillars that kept the room from falling down. They ringed the entire ball room 360 degrees. But the Doctor was busy glancing about, quickly darting his gaze away from some unseen anomaly every minute or so. It gave Amy the impression that he could see something on the ground that she couldn't.
"What are you looking at?" Amy said as she continued following him across the ballroom, her brow furrowed.
"Er…" He looked around for a few more moments, his eyes lingering on something invisible every now and then. "Nothing."
About eighteen minutes passed before the trio would near the center. At this point, Amy could just make out an unmistakably supernatural presence. The air rippled in an odd way at the very middle of the dance floor. It was as if the very air that spanned about twenty feet was curving in on itself to form a perfect sphere. They could barely make it out since it was made out of space.
The Doctor suddenly stopped in his tracks. Amy and Rory, still in tight formation, did all they could not to collide with him. It wasn't hard since they'd been trailing him by about thirty feet. The ballroom was silent except for husband and wife's echoing footsteps as they approached and finally stopped five feet prior their leaders location.
The unmoving, incomprehensible thing that wasn't was another five feet ahead of the Doctor. He stared at it for a few seconds before speaking. He didn't turn to face the Ponds.
"This is it."
"What is it?" Rory asked.
"I don't like this," Amy said with a shaky voice. "I'm getting chills."
"I don't know what could have led to its existence, perhaps very prolonged evolution with a pinch of interference from some intelligent life that made a very bad mistake. . .This thing is pure consciousness".
"That? What is that?"
"I just told you. It's pure consciousness. This must be the brain." His head was trembling slightly. "Everything fits now, just as I had feared. Just as I had known. . .The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how it was able to signal us from here. It's powerful. ..very powerful. . .but not powerful enough to transcend its own planet let alone entire galaxies. . .entire systems of galaxies. . ." His head was still trembling ever so slightly as he took another step toward the thing. "I found my way back to
the TARDIS. . .which is good news. Amy, Rory, tell me. Has my voice already stopped echoing?"
"Come to think of it, the echoing stopped sometime before you said 'this is it."'
"Thought so. I'm going to speak very quickly now so you have time to follow my directions. I won't tell you where exactly because it will only quicken the decline but a group of time agency officers must have come here to investigate all the disappearances. This planet isn't abandoned. It's been sucked dry. I want both of you to get into the fetal position right now without moving from where you're standing- DON'T move a single inch in any direction except to get into the fetal position. It is very very important for
you to close your eyes, " They followed his directions, both with a note of panic on their faces.
"Doctor what's happening?" Amy asked frantically as she curled into a ball.
"Its about to attempt to digest you. Not physically but mentally. I think the first tool in its arsenal is to show you reality. Remember when I said this planet's been sucked dry?"
"Yea," The two Pond's said uncertainly and simultaneously, both unable to mask the violent trembling. Rory's voice had cracked.
"Not physically."
"You don't mean…but…where are the bodies?"
"This isn't a ballroom. It's the meadow. We've been walking between mounds and mounds of…well… Keep your eyes closed. This is going to be worse than the esophagus. I'd tell you to make sure you both heard each others voices at all times but it's likely already silenced you both to one another. I'm doing all I can to stay above a whisper," An ever so slight trickle of blood appeared below the Doctor's left nostril. "I can't bring you two along. Only one of the teleportation cuffs are working and it
barely has enough power to transport one person." Neither Pond heard him.
"Doctor!" Amy was already crying. Rory had his face contorted in what looked like pain and doubt and helplessness all wrapped into one. But the Doctor couldn't hear Amy anymore. He was busy staring into a huge, glowing blue orb of light in front of him. This was the monster. This was it's true form. A sphere of energy.
His eyes widened and for a moment, he completely forgot about his main objective. His hand was already outstretched. Slowly it approached the sphere. Closer
and closer. It seemed as if the blue manifestation of thoughts was an asymptote to the Doctor's fingers when suddenly, with a violent crash, the connection was made.
From the ceiling of the world, at a birds eye view, one would see a blue, spherical wave of energy escape from the eye of a storm that only existed metaphorically. The fringes of the wave raced to meet the atmosphere. When they did, they quickly faded into invisibility. With the time vortexes energy flowing through the Doctor, and the consciousnesses brain waves transmitted a million fold with its new host telephone pole, the Doctor him self's brain, it was able to crash through the walls of time and space to meet its target.
This was how the brain was able to pull them in. The Doctor himself had provided the connection that let the brain send a signal back in time to coax Amy into suggesting they visit the planet.
With this violent maelstrom of information billowing from the center of the ballroom, not only was the Doctor's jacket ripped from his back, but the things concentration was momentarily preoccupied, and the Doctor was able to come to his wild eyed senses long enough to focus on what had to be done. He dashed across the flickering grass below his feet and scooped up a teleportation cuff from the body of a dead time agency officer. He couldn't even afford a pathetic excuse for a glance at his writhing companions before being whisked away by the improvised 'time machine'.
The main room that housed the navigation console of the TARDIS was quiet except for the rummaging noise that came from a large cardboard box near the console itself. A man was buried deep inside, next to a full sized mirror mounted on a metal stand near the railing. Various hats were strewn about, two of which hanging from the mirror itself.
"AHA!" The Doctor yelled in triumph as he pulled himself free from the extensive hat collection.
With his reappearance, both hands were holding exactly one Stetson each. In his right hand was a particularly small one with a dark brown collar laced by a light brown rope pattern. He placed it atop his head and posed in front of the mirror, waving the second hat about as he tried to compensate for his shifting balance. His face suddenly took on an unimpressed but still gleeful expression before he ripped the rejected
hat from his head, threw it across the room and replaced it with the larger, lighter brown one with a lace that blended in a bit more. He barely posed for a second before his face lit up with excitement.
"That's the one! You handsome devil!" He did a jig in front of the mirror and then snapped both fingers into a point at his 'devilish' reflection. "Cool..."
Just then, a knock at the door.
The Doctor started. He looked over at the door with his arms folded up to the sides of his chest. They still had a ghost of the previous self complementing pointing fingers. He looked slightly perplexed.
Nevertheless, he strolled over to the door, Stetson still planted firmly on his head, and opened it.
"Why hello! Get in! Get in!" The Doctor beamed at his future version of himself.
"Nice stetson," The Doctor smiled at the Doctor weakly as he walked through the door to the TARDIS. "Pity." He shook his head, seemingly oblivious to the dried blood that nearly reached his top lip.
He ripped the smoking teleportation cuff from his arm and slumped down into the chair next to the mirror.
"I need a ride."
"No problem. Not the first time I've picked up a hitchhiker. Don't worry. I don't think you'll murder me with an axe."
"Don't be so sure. ..Is that wine?"
"Yea. Don't act surprised. I'm going for a picnic."
"It tastes horrid. Just a fair warning."
"Bah! It'll probably taste like the gums. That's a spoiler anyways."
"Right. So-" The Doctor rummaged in his left pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Here is where I need to go."
"No time'?" the Doctor asked as he examined the coordinates. "Just coordinates. Don't tell me you'll be staying here in this time much longer. It's already quite embarrassing that we're here together right now."
"Don't worry. I've approximated what time I'll be needing to get to. The planet performs a full rotation once every three minutes or so. I'm lucky it takes a million years for it to orbit its sun. You'l1 have to sort of drop me out of the TARDIS as you fly by…technical reasons.. .Which brings me to why I came to you instead of just going straight where my TARDIS lie in wait..." At this, the Doctor put on a hard expression.
The Doctor meanwhile, was busy inputting the coordinates and getting the TARDIS ready for takeoff.
"When Amy wants a bit of adventure.. ..I mean when she's asking for trouble. Literally asking for it, you need to pull THAT lever right over there." He was pointing at the lever he'd pulled when he, Amy, and Rory had first arrived on the planet.
The Doctor looked up from the controls at this. After a pause, he nodded and continued pulling random levers and hitting buttons and turning dials. His brow furrowed slightly harder.
"That's the least spoilery I can get. You know what it does yes?"
"Gotcha. . .it's the paradox sustainer field extrender…er…the thing that makes it so that the TARDIS can sustain paradoxes outside…you obviously know these coordinates will land you at some random location on the
planet since you only theorize at the time."
The Doctor nodded.
"Right. So I don't have to waste my breath consoling you about the trek then. That's the beauty of a conversation with myself- I'm bringiner' in."
Just before the Doctor leapt out of the now wide-open door of the TARDIS into the thick foliage of trees below, he shared a final thought with himself.
"Don't listen to River. Stetsons are definitely cool." And he was gone. The door of the TARDIS slammed shut as it spun off into space.
After ripping himself from the thick net of branches that trapped him up in the canopy of the forest, the Doctor slammed into the twig-covered ground. He brushed a few debris from his body but gave up for continuity's sake. A novelty.
When he finally reached the area where his predecessors emerged from the tree line, he was struck by sudden urgency. It was funny but it somehow didn't make him laugh. I ended up abandoning you after all Amy. But you knew that would happen.
He thought that maybe if he apologized to her now, whatever horrors she was subjected to in the stomach might accidentally amplify this preemptive gesture and soten otherwise permanent, deep rooted alien feelings toward him. So what if this is very wishful thinking.
"Amy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Before he could meet her eyes any longer, he ducked into the trees and made his way to the TARDIS. Moments later, both Ponds were lying on the floor of it, rocked by spasms. They weren't in the fetal position any longer; the monster must have given their hands a glass like texture and made their legs rubbery and immovable. They were already vastly improving now that they were wrenched from the beasts iron, mental grip. They wouldn't look at him. They only spoke to each other.
A consoling, hushed conversation ensued between the two that was interrupted several times by hopefully temporary psychosis.
Amy and Rory stood at the door to their flat, almost one person with how close they were to each other. Amy was the only one of the two to speak.
"How did it try to get you? What did it show you?" She was locked in a strong embrace with Rory, whose face was turned toward the Doctor now. They stared at him unfaltering, already doubting his previously infallible status. It showed on their faces, plain and clear. The Doctor was bad news.
He stared back at them, hands in pockets, leaning against his TARDIS. They stared for a long time.
His face was blank, theirs questioning; untrusting. After about forty five seconds passed, his mouth was pursed slightly. His brow furrowed.
"It showed me this."
And with that, he pushed the door open with his right leg and slid inside. Amy and Rory stared at the light at the top of the TARDIS until it disappeared.