Destroyed Worlds


The Doctor was once again on his own, and it was all his fault. He was anrgy at himself, but oh-so-sad at the same time. He banged the controls, running around franticly, randomly pressing buttons and flipping switches. He should never have gotten involved with Astrid in the first place, it would have been so much better for her. What's the death count now, Doctor? voices in his head taunted, How many more to come?

"None! No more! NO more! I sware, I won't let another death happen if I can help it!" He yelled, holding back tears. He violently pulled a lever, and suddenly the whole TARDIS was spinning, round and round, falling into time and space. The Doctor panicked and pressed several more buttons, turning the spinning into toppling. He was thrown against his chair. The TARDIS eventually stabilized, and began to land. It jerkily materialized, not even on flat ground.

"Great. The parking's off. Wonderful." The Doctor grabbed his long coat and walked to the door, "Hmm, where have you brought me this time?" He opened the door and stepped out, only to immediately step back in.

"Whoa, gas mask, okay. A little warning next time would be nice." He strapped on his gas mask and strolled out, taking in the appearance of the destroyed area. The buildings were just piles of concrete rubble and twisted metal. Something had happened here, and it looked like bomb damage. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area for anything alien, but found nothing. Just an ordinary human bomb, nothing out of place.

The Doctor sauntered over the ruins, fascinated. He wondered if this was World War II, or some other war. He picked up a peice of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers. No, this bomb was too advanced, it hadn't struck here, but it had obliterated this whole area. This bomb was far too powerful, as a matter of fact, it shouldn't even exist. He was far more attentive now, making sure he didn't miss a single thing, but it seemed that there wasn't really anything to miss.

He went to turn back, but something caught his eye. A spot of color in the smog, a red, shining feebly in the gloom. His feet moved without him knowing, for he was too busy assessing whatever it was. As he got closer, he noticed that the red was part of a body. Not just a body, but a woman, faintly breathing. There were shards of concrete and glass pertruding from her body. How she had survived these wounds, let alone the bomb, amazed him.

A little badge still clung to her jacket. The Doctor pulled it off and read it,

Betty Petrikov, M.S.

Full Clearance

"So, we've got a scientist on our hands," He stared at her a moment, then whispered, "how in the world did you survive?"

xxx

The Doctor really didn't know what to do with her. He was afraid that if he moved her he might accidentally kill her. But he couldn't leave her out here with all of these toxic fumes floating around.

"Oh my God!" The Doctor had forgotten all about the fumes! He quickly went to take off his mask and give it to Betty, but a cackle broke in the air behind him. He spun around to see a crowned man emerge from behind some rocks, not eighty feet away. The man rose into the air, hovering above the ground, and a bluish glow developed around him. The air grew colder, if that was even possible, and a storm began to form overhead.

The Doctor scanned him multiple times, to no avail. He whacked his screwdriver and tried again, no luck. How could this man not be alien? He was a blue goblin-like creature, stuff of fairy tales. The goblin man approached the Doctor and Betty from above, shouting nonsense. The Doctor stood his ground, waiting for the goblin man. That is, until the goblin man began to pelt ice at him.

He really hadn't planned on moving Betty, but now he had no choice. He scooped her up from the debris, trying not to jolt her as best as he could. Then he ran.

The snow blew at his feet, quickly coating everything around him. Ice broke at his heels as the goblin man made near misses. Soon the snow was at his knees, and the wind lashed at his face. The goblin man gained on the Doctor as the snow drifts grew, and now they were only fifty feet apart.

His two hearts beat heavy in his chest as he ran, the cold air stinging his throat and lungs. His legs began to freeze, but he continued on, as he had in all of his battles.

His left leg gave out when he stumbled over something under the snow. He tumbled into the snow, Betty falling out of his arms into the white dust. He lifted up what he had tripped over, a stuffed bear, faded pink, patches all over. He lifted his head and looked straight into the eyes of a little girl. She was a strange one too, her clothes torn and dirty, and her face was a pale blue-green. But her eyes were the strangest of all, they were the color of blood, but were not bloodthirsty. They were calm, and showed maturity way beyond this little girl's years. Just like his.

She continued to stare at him as she made a snowball, very calmly. She waited, and with extreme precision, tossed it over her head. It glided smoothly through the turbulent air, and hit the crown dead on. The crown fell to the ground, and right after it was the goblin man.

"You should leave now," a quiet voice said to the Doctor. He turned, but the red eyed girl was already walking away. But he couldn't let her walk away without knowing what they were.

"What are you two?"

"Cursed." And that was all the reply he was going to get before she disapeared behind a mound of snow.

xxx

He stood there for nearly twenty seconds before he remembered that he had other things he needed to do. He waded through the deep snow to Betty. She was frosted in a layer of white, like some sleeping angel. He brushed her off and picked her up again. He carefully picked his way through the snow, on watch for the TARDIS.

When he spotted blue, he made his way toward it. It was half covered in snow, but it was definitely the TARDIS. The Doctor gently set Betty down in the snow, and cleared everything away from the doors, checking for damage at the same time. Once he was done he lifted Betty up yet again and brought her into the TARDIS.

The doors closed on the blue box, and the wind swirled the snow around it as it vanished into time and space itself.