Chapter 2: Soufflé Girl
It had been months since his wedding… and death. He had actually found life was now pretty uneventful. After all, the entire universe, barring River and more than likely Amy and Rory, thought he was dead.
He had just sat down in a quaint coffee shop somewhere on Earth and was building up to eating his scone. The butter and jam was all ready and screaming at him to take a bite.
Don't mind if I do… he thought to himself.
He picked it up and brought it to his lips. It smelt gloriously sweet and he was ready to enjoy it. However, he couldn't help but notice something, a figure in the corner of his eye.
He turned with his mouth still wide open and stared at it. Only he could see him, all the others around him were completely oblivious to his presence.
Suddenly, the scone didn't seem that appealing so he slowly placed it back down onto the plate. The figure had no visible face yet he knew his was staring at him. Not a nice thought when you're trying to eat in peace.
The Doctor looked away for a split second, which is the time in took the figure to move to the seat opposite him. His lips tightened and he frowned slightly. The stranger had an all too familiar likeness to the headless monks.
"I don't think I asked you to sit." said The Doctor.
"There is a woman who wants to meet you." stated the stranger, his voice deep and eerie.
"That's nice." started The Doctor, "But I'm married."
"You're help is required." continued the Stranger.
"I don't discuss my business in public." he told him.
"I know." admitted the Stranger, and with a flick of his hand, the people in the café disappeared.
The Doctor sighed and moved closer to him. "Who are you?" he questioned.
"A messenger." he answered.
"Whose messenger?" interrogated the Doctor.
"Darla von Karlsen's." replied the figure.
The Doctor sniggered and shrugged his shoulders. "Never heard of her." he stated before swiftly rising to his feet.
x-[]-x
Turns out, Darla von Karlsen was just an unfortunate person who had been destroyed by The Dalek's. Her soul had been carved out and her body was just a puppet, all her cells re-written and under the control of the Daleks.
Now, thanks to her, he found himself in the world place in the universe, The Parliament of The Daleks. He, Amy and Rory had been captured and now were about to suffer the worst fate, death at the Daleks' hands. The room was filled with millions of them, all primed and more than capable of killing them like flies. There they were, sitting like ducks, nothing but target practice to the great space killing machines. Maybe it was a game, see which one of them could shoot and kill him first?
The Doctor was trying to put a brave face on but truthfully, he was terrified. He had managed to defeat them time and time again, but he couldn't see a way out this time. This was it. He was going to die… and he'd brought Amy and Rory to the front line with him.
"Well come on then." he cried, "You've got me! What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas! Here I am!"
His hands were raised to signal surrender and he shut his eyes tightly. He had seconds, if that. It's funny, but somehow he was at peace. He figured that when you accept it's the end, you find a level of peace so you're death won't seem to be that bad...
They were taking their time. Maybe they were going to see how long he could last… see if they could get him beg for them to exterminate him.
"You will save us." one of them said, breaking through the silence of the room.
The Doctor's eyes shot open and he spun around on his heels. Had he heard that right?!
"I'll what?" he asked in a state of shock.
"You will save the Daleks." repeated the same one.
Amy and Rory were just as shocked, especially when the entire room started to grow in volume as all the Daleks began to chant in unison: Save the Daleks.
"Well, this is new." stated The Doctor.
x-[]-x
When the vessel reached The Dalek Asylum, a planet filled with all the insane Daleks in the universe, the Darla von Karlsen puppet began to explain to them about a signal which had been received from it.
The Doctor smiled when he heard Bizet's Oiseau Rebelle play.
"What is that noise?" asked the Supreme Dalek, "Explain! Explain!"
"It's... me." answered the Doctor.
"Sorry what?!" cried Rory.
"It's me… Playing the triangle." said The Doctor, "Okay, I got buried in the mix. Carmen! Lovely show, someone's transmitting this. Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?"
The silence in the room grew increasingly thick ever so quickly.
"He asked the Daleks…" he continued.
The Doctor began to mess with the console in order to back track the signal.
"Hello? Hello, Carmen?" he began, "Hello? Come in, come in, come in, Carmen."
"Hello, yes, yes, sorry, do you read me?!" answered a very sweet voice.
"Yes, reading you loud and clear." replied the Doctor, "Identify yourself and report your status."
"Hello!" the woman repeated, "Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"
"Yep, confirmed, actually properly real." answered The Doctor.
"Oswin Oswald, Junior Entertainment Manager, Starship Alaska. Current status – crashed and shipwrecked somewhere… not nice." she told him, "Been here a year, rest of the crew missing. Provisions good, but keen to move on."
"A year?" asked the Doctor, "Are you OK, are you… under attack?"
Oswin sighed. "Some local life-forms, I've been keeping them out."
"Do you know what those life-forms are?" questioned The Doctor.
"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah." she confirmed.
"What have been doing, on your own, against the Daleks for a year?!" he asked.
"Making soufflés..." she told him, feeling a bit silly as she said it.
"Soufflés?" he asked with a smile, "Against the Daleks?"
Amy looked around at the Daleks while the Doctor continued his conversation. Their eyestalks were all directed at the Doctor, and so where their weapons. Whatever their plans were, she really wished that somehow they weren't part of it...
x-[]-x
The Doctor had had a very bittersweet day. Obviously, being on a planet containing insane Daleks is enough to make anyone have a not so good day but there were good moments too. Firstly, he had met a real genius of a girl, Oswin Oswald. She was smart, easy to talk to and very flirty. He really wished he could have saved her; unfortunately, the Daleks had gotten to her first. She'd been converted to a full Dalek but thanks to her strength, she had mentally remained human and managed to save him, Amy and Rory from the Daleks.
Yes, he was quite upset that she had died but on the other hand, he praised her as she had singlehandedly made every single Dalek in the universe forget him. That was a major weight lifted off his shoulders. However, the thing that had made his day most of all was the fact Amy and Rory had made up so when he dropped them off at home, he had left on real high. Nothing was going to bring him down and all thanks to Soufflé Girl… his Soufflé Girl.
