a/n: For Tardisficathon on tumblr.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who nor Phantom of the Opera
The TARDIS was filled with an infinite number of rooms. In fact, the TARDIS was the equivalent to stepping through the looking glass into Wonderland. That is, if Wonderland was an organic, dimensionally transcendental, sentient time machine, consisting of twisting, turning, constantly changing corridors lined with doors. Especially, considering each door could lead to everything from gardens filled with phosphorescent butterflies making a rainbow of colours against the backdrop of a midnight blue alien sky to a storage room filled with nothing but every variety of cheese one could think of and few one couldn't to bedrooms filled with belongings from people long since departed to a room of a nothingness filled with a darkness so thick and terrible, it practically leached the warmth from your body without you even stepping across its threshold. The TARDIS was a place of dreams, nightmares, things that were, are and possibly could be. It was dangerous, exciting and full of surprises and Rose loved it.
With such an enchanting and fascinating place to call home, how could Rose resist exploring, becoming the proverbial Alice? Although her mum and Mickey thought her time spent with the Doctor was nothing but non-stop adventure on some alien world, running for the lives or, on her mum's part, snogging and shagging, the truth was there were a good amount of quiet days. The Doctor had once said finding trouble was just the bits in between and that was the truth. They often spent time floating in the Vortex while the Doctor made repairs or just tinkered with the console. It was during one such quiet time that Rose wandered off into the TARDIS as she often liked to do.
Trailing her fingers along the coral walls, she made her way through the time ship, her trainers quietly slapping against the metal grating floor. She would duck into a door here or there, finding storage rooms filled with bric-a-brac or workrooms filled with half-finished projects but every once in a while she would uncover a true gem, a special room filled with delights. This day, she found just such a room. The door to this room was grand and ornate, the door painted red with gold scrollwork down the middle. She pushed it open and gasped at what she found.
It was a grand theatre reminiscent of something one would find in a large Earth metropolitan city. Rose stepped into the room that screamed luxury and decadence. It was round and cavernous filled with plush red velvet stadium type seating surrounding a curtained stage. The walls were gilded gold with scroll work and embellished with ivy and cherubs, swags of deep red curtains and wall sconces dripping with crystals. There were golden columns holding up balconies around the entire room and each balcony was decorated with more golden sculptures and relief work. The ceiling was domed, painted a rich blue with more golden embellishments. An enormous crystal chandelier dangled down from the dome ceiling, spreading a golden light on the seating below.
It smelled of leather, polish and posh perfume mixed with something old and timeless. Rose slowly walked further in pausing to absorb it all. As she made her way amongst the plush seats, the lights blinked and dimmed. The sounds of an orchestra warming up floated up from the orchestra pit before the stage below her. Heavy crimson curtains rose revealing a stage set with a tall man dressed in a vintage tuxedo with a white mask over part of his face hiding behind a wall while a girl was in a dressing room talking to dashing young man.
When the young man exited the girl's dressing room, the masked man sang in a haunting voice:
Insolent boy!
This slave
of fashion
basking in your
glory!
Ignorant fool!
This brave
young suitor,
sharing in my
triumph!
The girl seemed to hear the masked man's compelling song, closed her eyes and smiled dreamily, spellbound by the song and sang back to him:
Angel! I hear you!
Speak
I listen . . .
stay by my side,
guide me!
Angel, my soul was weak –
forgive me . . .
enter at last,
Master!
Rose was mesmerized by it all, from the lovely voices to the elaborate costumes and sets. She walked down the aisle until she was a few rows from the stage and tucked herself into a seat to watch the performance which she assumed was some sort of futuristic hologram of the play the TARDIS had activated for her.
A program for Phantom of the Opera was lying on the seat beside her. She was a bit thrilled at the opportunity to see this famous musical performed in such a grand place and she was sure it would be spectacular.
dwdwdwdwdwdwd
The Doctor had been oblivious to Rose's exit as he was so immersed in adjusting the binary temporal dampeners. When he called out a question and received no answer, he scooted out from under the console. He muttered about Rose's propensity to wander off as he made his way through the TARDIS listening to his ship's hum change as if to remind him the universe did not revolve around him. He snorted at this and sent a questioning thought to the TARDIS about Rose's location. He was answered with a blaring sound of the Phantom of the Opera overture echoing down the corridor.
"Right, Broadway Musical Room. Blimey, it's been a century or more since I was in that room," he muttered as he approached the ornate gold and red door. He swung it open and smiled like a giddy schoolboy as he was immersed in the sounds of Phantom of the Opera resonating through the theatre. He saw Rose enraptured by the stunning set and the music bringing the tragic romantic tale to life. Seeing her like that struck a chord in him. Oh, he did love seeing her so in the moment, enjoying the music and utterly beguiled by the performances. It was one of the things that drew him to her and made him lov… He paused and reminded himself that those sorts of feelings weren't allowed. There was a sudden, subtle shift in the air that caught his attention. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a memory wormed its way to the forefront.
"Oh no," he breathed as he remembered more details about this particular room. He looked at a wall and scowled at the TARDIS. "Why'd you let her in here? You know what's in here," he snapped. A nearby light exploded in response making him shield his face. He looked up at the ceiling annoyed at his cheeky ship and then quickly made his way into the room to find Rose before something else found her first.
"Rose," he called out and looked around the large theatre nervously.
Rose, curled up in her seat, rolled her eyes and looked back at him. He looked annoyed. "Can't even get a cuppa for himself," she muttered. "Just a mo!" she called out and turned back to the stage. The girl was still as if this was a film that had been paused. Rose sighed, thinking about how impatient he could be some times. She stood up and turned back toward him.
"Doctor, really, couldn't you just…" she said before having the air knocked out of her as a masked man swung down out of the rafters and swept her away.
"Bugger!" the Doctor shouted as he watched the Phantom kidnap Rose and steal off with her. He looked up at the ceiling again. "You see what happens when you indulge her! The bloody Phantom's gone and nicked her!"
The chandelier exploded in sparks, which rained down on him causing him to duck and slap at his now singed hair. He let loose a string of curses in several languages. Oh, he definitely remembered this room now.
It had been 1870, and he'd been visiting Paris. It had been back when he wore a velvet frock and cravat. He'd been tracking some odd sonic readings and found the source of the vibrations in the basement of a theatre. He'd found a time traveling humanoid alien who was training opera singers and tuning their voices to power a weapon. He was the last of his kind and harboured resentment against humanity who in the future would be responsible for his race's destruction. The Doctor had tried to reason with the creature, but to no avail leaving him no choice but to forcibly remove him. The alien was severely injured in the struggle to stop him from destroying the planet. He'd taken pity on the now scarred and disfigured creature and imprisoned him in a room on the TARDIS where the alien could relive his operatic obsession for the rest of eternity.
The Doctor cursed again as he realized the creature he called Erik wouldn't remember much of what happened. His injuries had been severe and he truly believed he was the Phantom. This meant Rose was Christine and he was… The Doctor winced. "Blimey, I'm Raoul!" he fretted and he looked at the hologram recording to try and determine where the Phantom may have taken Rose.
dwdwdwdwdwdwdw
Rose, meanwhile, found herself in some underground lair. It was dark and damp with dripping water lit only with candles. She was laying on some worn velvet lounge and her kidnapper sat at an enormous pipe organ playing Music of the Night whilst singing to her.
I have brought you
to the seat of sweet
music's throne . . .
to this kingdom
where all must pay
homage to music . . .
music . . .
Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses
At first Rose enjoyed this private concert, but it very quickly became evident this was more than a concert. He began instructing her and demanding she sing for him, shouting at her and being a proper git in Rose's mind.
"Sing for me! I am your Angel of Music and I command you!" he ordered.
Rose stood up. "Oi! You might be a lot of things but you're no angel!" she retorted.
The Phantom stormed over to her pushing her backward until she tumbled down on the lounge. "Years I have spent, mentoring and preparing you to be the greatest singer in Paris, Christine. I assured your success and you will sing for me," he said in a menacing voice and threw sheets of music at her.
Rose was a bit dumbfounded. She looked at the sheets music and furrowed her brow. It was in French and scrawled in writing worse than the Doctor's. "Look, I'm not Christine and…"
"You will sing for me!" he commanded, ignoring her.
She watched him straighten himself and sit at the organ with flourish and hit a few notes.
Rose sighed. "Oh, he can't just have some normal theatre on the TARDIS. Nooo, it has to have some nutter Phantom wanna be in it," Rose muttered as she looked around for a way out. The Phantom commanded her to sing again.
Finding no way out unless she wanted to jump in a dodgy looking moat, Rose rolled her eyes knowing she would have to do something to divert her barmy kidnapper. "Fine, you want me to sing some French song, then I'll sing," she said petulantly, thinking about Moulin Rouge and the first French song to pop into her head. Rose then commenced to sing Lady Marmalade.
Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya dada
Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya here
Mocha Chocalata ya ya
Creole lady Marmalade
It was a bit off key and drowned out a bit by the organ but that did not dim Rose's enthusiasm and she sang out loud hoping the Doctor would hear her. She had already determined this was all his fault and he better get his Time Lord arse there quickly and help her deal with her Phantom abductor.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was quickly making his way around the theatre, which was quite large, elaborate and almost never-ending thanks to the dimensionally transcendental interior provided by the TARDIS. He cursed and muttered complaints about the TARDIS making this more difficult for him and added a few more unpleasant expletives about a certain phantom. Then, out of nowhere, he heard the organ music. "Gotcha," he murmured, thinking he could follow the sound to Rose. Of course, since this was a detailed replica of the original theatre with some minor tinkering by the TARDIS to enhance the sound, it made it difficult to trace. That is, until a certain blonde companion's off pitch and jarring voice rang out in a horrible French accent singing:
Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir
Voulez vous coucher avec moi
"Blimey, I really need to take her for a visit with Mathilde Marchesi," he said as he tracked her voice, thinking the voice coach would have her work cut out for her. He winced when Rose started her next line and hit a particularly off key note. "On second thought, maybe just a trip to visit Euterpe. Although, she was a bit sore with me last time I visited," he muttered as he thought of his last trip to visit the Greek muse of music where he might have said her flutes needed a little tuning and his sonic might have melted one. There had been a bit of running as involved as well and possibly a curse or two.
By the time he reached the Phantom's secret lair, the Phantom and had turned on Rose, furious at her less than immaculate voice and cursing Raoul for ruining her. The minute he shouted, "That foul and most wretched Raoul has destroyed you!" Rose knew she had to do something, and quickly. He was tossing furniture aside in his fury and she had no doubt of his violent intent toward her. She was dashing around the dark dungeon-like room, ducking behind furniture as he chased her.
Rose shouted, "Oi, I wasn't that bad!" as he threw a goblet of wine at her. He barely missed her, but red wine spilled all over her light blue denim jacket.
"That was my favourite jacket!" she shouted at him. "Oh, you are so gonna get it," she muttered.
"If I cannot have you, no one can!" he announced, dramatically.
Rose muttered, "Right" as she grabbed a candlestick prepared to defend herself.
The Doctor heard the Phantom shout out "Raoul will rue the day he corrupted my Christine!" He picked up speed and ran into the Phantom's lair, sonic in hand and shouted, "Ha!" He paused and observed the scene before him. Rose with a bored "I am so not amused" expression on her face stood next to the now unconscious Phantom sprawled on the ground near her. A brass candlestick was in her hand as she looked at him with an arched brow.
"I've come to, um rescue you," the Doctor said as he stood still shuffling his feet and nervously tapping his sonic against his side. He looked from the Phantom to Rose. "Soooo, guess you sorted him then?"
"Ya think?" she asked and cocked a hip out. "Wanna tell me why you have some homicidal Phantom of the Opera runnin' around the TARDIS and why he thinks I'm someone named Christine and who is Raoul?"
"Oh well, I think Raoul would be me!" he said, amused. "And Christine, well she was the lovely girl he was obsessed with and loved. It's part of the musical. You know, Phantom of the Opera."
"Right," Rose said and looked back down at the Phantom. "Um, Doctor, that doesn't explain why you have him locked up in here. I mean, I thought this was all some hologram until you swanned in and he got all fatal attraction like and demanded I sing some rubbish French song while he played his evil organ thing."
The Doctor grinned at this description. "Oh come on! Weren't you just a little bit flattered? I mean he loved Christine, was stalking her since she was a young girl, teaching her how to sing and wanted to make her the greatest operatic singer in Paris!"
"Doctor, he's a nutter and was ready to do gawd knows what to me and you still haven't' explained why he's here?"
"Wellll, that is a long story involving a time travelling alien who wanted to murder the human race using amplified opera singers' voices." The Phantom groaned. "And we really should be going before he wakes up," the Doctor said and held out his hand wiggling his fingers. Rose tossed aside the candlestick and grasped his hand as he led her out of the dungeon like area, through the theatre and out the door which he then soniced shut.
"Now then, that was an unexpected adventure! How about a cuppa before we're off?" he asked, happy to have Rose with him as they walked down the corridor.
"All right, Raoul," Rose teased, bumping her shoulder against his.
"Oh no, don't do that!" the Doctor said, wincing but then smiling all the same. As he thought about it, being Raoul wasn't so bad. After all, he did get the girl in the end and maybe, just maybe that was something he was hoping for. He looked off at a coral wall and chuckled at his ship. "All right old girl, you win," he thought as he considered where to take Rose that would be perhaps a bit more romantic and less adventure-y. Yeah, being Raoul may be not so bad indeed. In fact, it was just a bit brilliant.