The Doctor pushed open the heavy oak door with intense curiosity, his head scanning the room ahead. At first it seemed like nothing more than a deserted, hollow room, with a few dusty chairs stacked in the corner, and the once varnished wooden floors and elegant bay windows left to age ungracefully. But then the Doctor heard that sound. The sound he had heard so often, and so often spelt trouble. The sound of a child crying. The Doctor followed his ears, Amy and Rory cautiously following behind him. They stopped when the Doctor whispered "Hello." to a small heap in the top-right corner. Amy felt a twinge of guilt that she had looked on it as a pile of clothes, her normally keen perception failing to spot the small body inside of them. The crying stopped momentarily, and a small pale face with large bloodshot eyes looked up. He stared at the three of them, his lips wobbling as he tried to maintain a momentary air of calm. He failed.
"Come now." The Doctor said, pulling his trousers up and crouching down. "What can I do for you my young friend?"
The boy looked up, brushing his eyes with the back of his hand.
"My mum. She...she's gone through that door," he pointed towards a cream coloured door opposite them, against the left side of the room. "She told me to wait here but I heard her scream and I dunno what to do." He spluttered, all manner of bodily fluids streaming from his orifices as he did so.
"Well," Amy said, placing her hands on her knees in what felt like a slightly patronising way "It's lucky we came along. My friend here, the Doctor, is great at finding people. I'm great if you ever need a hug. And this guy...well if you ever want a smile put back on your face, you just have to look at him really." Amy gave a grin to Rory who once again felt both proud and slightly belittled.
The boy looked at her cautiously, before scrambling to his knees and shuffling into the arms of the Doctor, who was slightly taken aback.
"Right well, uh, I'll leave you in the capable hands of Mr and Mrs Pond while I go get your mum back-"
"No! Please stay Mister." The boy burrowed his head inside the Doctor's jacket. The Doctor looked slightly perplexed before looking up at Amy and Rory for assistance.
"Looks like you and me are on mum-hunting duty then Amy." Rory said.
"Fine by me. And you'll be OK Doctor?" Amy said, tongue in cheek.
"I'm sure I'll be just fine. You two be careful."
The pair nodded before heading through the cream door. The door slammed shut. The recognisable screams of Amy and Rory echoed out behind it.
The Doctor turned and stared. "Oh no. I've got to-" He turned down to the small boy, who had disappeared. His shirt was no longer damp with tears, and his trousers were neat and creaseless. He jumped to his feet and frantically looked around himself, taking in as much information about the situation in the least amount of time possible. Two access points. Closed window. House was no larger than 100 square meters. They'd entered from the back of the room on the left, the very left wall being the edge of the house. Then how was there a door on the left side wall? And why did the window on the right side look out?
The Doctor sprinted over to the door and pulled it open.
"Rory! Amy!" He yelled into the dark abyss on the other side. A spotlight shone down on him. Its' glow illuminated a light metal floor beneath his feet.
"No. It can't be, can it?" The Doctor looked up to the sound of this chirpy voice.
"It is isn't it? It's the Doctor!" Hovering above him about twenty meters away was a dishevelled man. His eyes hollow and his clothes little more than scraps of material pieced together. His hair was dark and shoulder length, wavy and unkempt. He was sat comfortably on a large steel throne as if it was a common household sofa. He kept moving his head from one side to another, looking the Doctor up and down in the most amazed fashion.
"Who are you? Where is that little boy and his mother? More to the point where are my friends, Amy and Rory?" The Doctor bellowed, stamping his presence.
"Now now Doctor, you're not living up to my expectations at all. You can't tell that that human was nothing more than a sub-particle holographic image? And people said you were to be feared."
The Doctor cursed at himself. How could he have been so foolhardy? "And what about Amy and Rory, they were real last time I checked." The Doctor yelled.
The man chuckled. "Oh the irony." He clapped his hands and dozens of lights slowly turned on. The Doctor noticed he was within a small glass chamber surrounded by machinery and flashing lights. But more interestingly the glass chamber was within a room about twice the size of the whole house. Metal and machinery was everywhere, far too intricate to take in at once. Then the Doctor's amazement turned to fear and grief. To his left side was Amy, to his right Rory. Both stared at him blankly, their faces shimmering like plastic, with large jaw pieces attached to where their mouths once were, resembling the most horrific of lifelike dummies.
The man chuckled once again. "Welcome, Doctor, to the death race!"