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On with the story!
Chapter 2: Embarking on Adventure
"Rory."
The Centurion wouldn't let his name coax him from sleep.
"Rory."
He wouldn't.
"Rory!"
Oh, this was all too painfully familiar.
Rory blinked his heavy eyes open to the darkness of his bedroom. He glanced at the form next to him, seeing that his wife was still blissfully asleep.
With a look of confusion, Rory looked to his right, wondering who then had called him from sleep.
Of course. The Doctor's face was mere inches away from his own.
Rory managed to stifle his shriek of surprise. His look of astonishment quickly slid from his face. He looked to his nightstand's clock, grumpily realizing he had only been asleep for fifteen minutes.
"Grab your coat, Rory," the Doctor ordered in a whisper. "We're going on an adventure."
Rory stared at him. He was mad. "Tomorrow, Doctor." With that, he turned over in his bed and attempted to fall back asleep.
There was an incessant tapping on Rory's shoulder. "Typically, I would never be so rude as to wake you in the middle of the night."
Rory rolled his eyes.
"I said typically," the Doctor pointed out with a sniff. "But this is a matter of urgency. We must go now."
Rory rolled back over to look at him. "You're a Time Lord. I don't think 'urgency' should very much matter to you."
"I'll have you know—" the Doctor began to snap back indignantly.
However, he stopped when Amy began to stir from her sleep. "Not here, Pond," he whispered to Rory, his eyes staring at Amelia's heavily pregnant form.
Rory glanced at his wife, puzzled by the Doctor's behaviour. Before he could question it, the Doctor hurried out of the bedroom and down the hall. His boots could be heard tapping down the wooden stairs.
Curious and sleep-deprived, Rory threw back his covers with a pitiful groan.
The Doctor waited at the base of the stairs as Rory threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt once more. As the companion quietly stomped down the stairs, the Doctor held out a jumper and pair of trainers.
Rory snatched them from the Doctor and began to put them on. "Is Amy not coming?"
"Oh, you know how my adventures always are," the Doctor replied offhandedly. "There's always too much running for a pregnant woman." His smile was tight.
Rory nodded. He didn't like the thought of Amy in danger while pregnant either. Or ever, for that matter.
The Doctor held the front door open for the Centurion, not letting his grin fall.
Rory stomped over to him, but paused with a pointed finger. "You better get me back before my wife wakes and finds me missing." He then continued to march on past, not waiting for an answer.
"I swear on my life, I will, Rory Pond," the Doctor whispered to himself.
They had marched into the TARDIS, both silently contemplative.
But as Rory approached the center console, he noticed a pair of white Converse lying out from behind it. Ridiculously, the sight reminded him of The Wizard of Oz; the wicked witch of the East having just been crushed by a house.
Ever the nurse, Rory rushed over to the man. Upon running around the console, he got a good view of this unconscious man; he had a blue pinstriped suit, sticky-uppy brown hair, and a relaxed face. Rory knelt down, immediately checking for a pulse. There was none.
The Doctor frowned. He fetched a blanket from under the floor and draped it reverently over the corpse; he couldn't stand the sight any longer.
"What happened?" Rory demanded, shaken out of his shock from the Doctor's movements. "Who is he?"
The Doctor and his frown turned away, choosing to face the center console. With a few swift, mechanical movements, the TARDIS was propelling through the vortex.
Rory cautiously approached the Time Lord who was leaning heavily on the console. "Doctor…"
The Doctor flinched slightly away from the man's extended hand. Quickly, though, he composed himself.
"He's me," he explained offhandedly, as if it didn't matter a bit. "Well, a past me. Well technically a clone. Of the past me, that is. God, could you imagine the bow ties? Two of me flying about!"
With a shake of the head, the Doctor moved away from the console.
Rory merely stood, attempting to process what was happening. Movements out in his peripheral vision caught his eye. He spun around, staring as the Doctor picked up a large blaster cannon from underneath the deceased man's blanket. The deceased Doctor's blanket.
Still trying to wrap his mind around the events, Rory blindly followed the Doctor as he made his way towards the TARDIS doors. With a grand thrust and a gentle creak, they were opened.
"What is that?" Rory wondered aloud, not fully there. How could the Doctor be dead? In any form?
"It's a dimension blaster," the Doctor responded. He aimed it into the swirling vortex, flicking a switch for the blaster to power up.
Rory blinked. "A dimension blaster? Meaning… Meaning we'll be traveling through dimensions?"
The Doctor pulled the trigger. With a hefty jolt, a bright light was emitted from the barrel. The light seemed to latch onto a part of the swirling vortex before pulling, stretching, brightening a section of the vortex that surrounded them.
"It would appear so, yes!" the Doctor yelled back over the angrily loud hole that was erupting before them. He marched back to the center console.
Rory watched with terror, glued in front of the open TARDIS doors. Slowly, then with increasing speed, the hole became larger. Much too large. As if it was getting closer, as if they were flying into it…
"DOCTOR!" Rory shouted in horror. "What about Amy!"
"You'll be back by the morning!" the Doctor shouted back with emerging excitement. "As promised!"
With a look of utter horror, Rory reached and slammed the TARDIS doors shut. He was leaving his own dimension!
"Hold on tight, Rory Pond!" the Doctor yelled back, practically gleeful now. He was gripping the console tightly, orchestrating and keeping himself upright as the TARDIS began to shake and be tossed about.
Not needing any more encouragement, Rory latched onto the nearest bar with both arms.
So this was it. So this was how Rory Williams would die. At the hand of this mad man and his box.
With a jolting crash, the pair and a corpse landed.
Rose comes back in the next chapter—promise! We're getting to the good stuff! ;)
I apologize for taking so long! I've recently moved and started at a new university, so life's been a bit hectic. I'm aiming to publish at least once a week. (Fingers crossed!) The next chapter is already in progress.
Thank you so much for reading and following; please drop by a review! :)