Hello fellow readers! Here's chapter 2. Something that I didn't say last time, I want to thank all the writers on this site whose stories I've read and will continue to read for inspiring me to write my own. I don't like to write, but I have been enjoying writing this story. I'm currently in the process of editing my chapters. Please review.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my oc. Edited by Formusan.
"So where are we going today," I asked the Doctor as I entered the console room. It had been a week since the Doctor invited me to travel with him and suffice it to say I was loving every moment. I was currently dressed in an off-shoulder gray sweater over top of a black tank top. I wore a pair of dark skinny jeans and finished the off with a pair of black, fold over, lace up, combat boots. My strawberry blonde hair was tied in its usual over the shoulder braid.
The Doctor glanced up at me. "I was thinking Cardiff, 2005," he replied.
"Why Cardiff? There are plenty of planets out there," I questioned.
"I've been tracking an unusual signal for a couple of days now. The TARDIS finally found the point of origin."
I raised an eyebrow. "And that point of origin is in Cardiff?"
"Yup," he said, grinning.
"Well what are we waiting for? To Cardiff, 2005." I grinned. I was positively buzzing with excitement. This was it. The show was about to begin.
We landed and the Doctor stepped out. "So where exactly is the signal coming from?" I questioned, closing the TARDIS door behind me. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button. I smiled as I watched him move the screwdriver around, looking for the signal with his usual curious stare. I had nearly squealed out loud when I first saw it. We had been running from a group of aliens (par for the course when you're with the Doctor), and he had pulled out the sonic screwdriver to unlock a door blocking our path. I was practically bouncing up and down with excitement at finally seeing the Doctor's trusty screwdriver.
"Hah!" The Doctor exclaimed triumphantly, breaking me from my thoughts. "It's this way." He took off down the street and I bolted to catch up with him. We wound up outside a large building with the words 'Henrick's Department Store' in big letters on the front. "The signals coming from the roof," the Doctor said, titling his head back to look at the building.
"Well, the store's closed, so I guess we should take the back way in," I suggested, pointing towards the closed sign on the front door.
"Right, follow me." The Doctor headed around the back side of the building while I followed close behind. I smiled to myself. I was finally going to meet Rose. She wasn't my favorite companion, but she has her moments and winds up meaning a lot to the Doctor. I wondered how my presence here was going to affect their relationship. We found the back door after encountering some bold pigeons' nest. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the door. We slipped inside and looked around. It was your typical department store basement; Boxes were piled high against the walls and racks of different articles of clothing were scattered throughout. The Doctor glanced around, looking for a door to lead us to the roof. He walked over to an olive green door and opened it. The room was cluttered with all sorts of different equipment, but that wasn't what got our attention. A pair of legs stuck out from behind one of the shelves.
I brought a hand to my mouth as tears filled my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said softly.
The Doctor closed the door to the electric room and looked at me with concern. "You alright?" He asked me.
"I'll be fine," I replied, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. He didn't look convinced, but decided to drop it. It had never bothered me while watching the show when the Doctor told Rose that Wilson was dead, but actually seeing it in real life was different. I shook my head, bringing myself back to the present and quickly followed the Doctor. We continued searching for a way to the roof when I heard a noise off to my left and turned my head to look. "Doctor," I said quietly, staring at a mannequin that had started to move.
The Doctor turned to look at me. "What?" I pointed towards the moving dummy. "Oh," was all he said before he grabbed my hand and took off in the opposite direction of the dummy. A familiar voice, at least to me, shouting caused us to stop dead.
"Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?" The voice demanded. It was Rose.
The Doctor groaned. "Of course some ape had to pick now of all times to come down here. Come on, better go rescue her." We ran in the direction of Rose's voice.
We rounded a corner and heard Rose yell, "Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?"
"Stay here," the Doctor told me and ran through a door before I could protest. I heard him say "run" before he and Rose came bolting back through the door and past me. We ran down the dimly lit hallway, doing our best to stay out of the way of the dummies. We finally made it to the elevator and I slammed my hand on the up button. The doors began to close, but one of the mannequins stuck its arm in the way, preventing the door from closing. The Doctor and I then grabbed hold of the arm and with a few good tugs, managed to pull the arm free of the door.
"You pulled his arm off!" Rose exclaimed, disgusted.
"Yup," I replied, tossing her the plastic arm and grinning. She flinched, but caught it nonetheless.
"Very clever. Nice trick. Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?" Rose demanded, looking between the Doctor and I.
"Why would they be students?" The Doctor asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the elevator wall.
"I don't know," Rose replied.
"Well, you said it. Why students?" I asked.
"'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students," Rose stated.
I nodded my head. "You've got a point there," I told her.
"That makes sense. Well done," the Doctor congratulated.
Rose smiled at him. "Thanks."
"They're not students," the Doctor stated, causing Rose's smile to falter.
"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police," Rose said, frowning.
"Who's Wilson?" The Doctor asked.
"Chief electrician."
"Sorry but, Wilson's dead," I told her sadly. The elevator dinged and the Doctor got out first, followed by me and then Rose, who was still holding the plastic arm.
"That's not funny. That's sick!" Rose cried indignantly.
"Never said it was funny," I muttered.
"Hold on. Mind your eyes," the Doctor warned, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.
"I've had enough of this now," Rose declared, exasperated. I rolled my eyes at her. Did she seriously still think this was a joke? The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the elevator and activated it, causing sparks to fly from the control panel. "Who are you then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" Rose practically shouted, trailing after the Doctor and I as we jogged down the hallway.
"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures," I told her, moving aside a plastic curtain that hung in the way.
"They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a real problem if we didn't have this," the Doctor explained, pulling a small bomb out of his pocket. I found out early on that his pockets were bigger on the inside. Who knew he could hold that many bananas in his pockets. I mean, I knew he had a thing for bananas, but you would have thought he was packing for an army of monkeys. "So we're going up there and blowing them up, and we might well die in the process, but don't worry about us. No, you go home." He shoved her out the door. "Go on. Go have your lovely beans on toast." I made a face at that comment. "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." And with that he slammed the door shut. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" He asked.
I gestured towards the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Right," he said and opened the door again to reveal Rose still standing there. "I'm the Doctor and this is Elena, by the way. What's your name?"
"Rose."
"Nice to meet you, Rose. Now, run for your life," he said, waving the bomb again and grinning like a maniac before slamming the door. He turned towards me. "Happy?" He asked sassily.
I put my hands on my hips. "Yes. Now I believe we have a bomb to place?"
"Right." He ran across the roof. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but smiled anyway and took off after the Doctor. We high tailed it out of the store once the Doctor had armed the bomb.
BOOM!
The resulting shockwave nocked us to the ground. Pieces of debris rained down around us as we looked back up at our masterpiece. "You alright?" The Doctor questioned, looking me over for any signs of injury.
"Head, arms, body, feet, legs. Yup, I'm good," I replied, checking over each body part as I named them. The Doctor rolled his eyes and held out a hand. Grinning, I accepted his hand and he pulled me to my feet. We walked back to the TARDIS. "Hello, sexy," I greeted cheerfully as I skipped into the TARDIS.
'Hello, Elena,' the TARDIS hummed in my mind. She had startled me the first time she talked to me. Just like now, I had said hello. I had expected a simple hum in reply, but instead had gotten a mental reply. I told the Doctor and he was surprised, as she had never done that to anyone before, not even him.
"Right, I'm going to take a shower and head to bed," I decided. "Night, Doctor."
"Night, Elena." The Doctor replied.
I walked down the hall till I came to my room. I smiled as I saw my name written on the door. Once in English and again in Gallifreyan. I lightly traced the Gallifreyan lettering with my finger before opening the door. The TARDIS had designed my room to be like the one I had when I still lived with my parents, before I had gone off to college. The realization that I couldn't see my family again hit me hard. The Doctor had been showing me my room when I just broke down in front of him. It was rather embarrassing, and I don't think the Doctor knew what to do. He had just sat on the bed next to me, patting my back rather awkwardly as I cried. I had managed to pull myself together just long enough to say goodnight and waited till he left the room to start crying again. I wound up crying myself to sleep that night. White carpet covered the floor and the walls where a sky blue. Several horse pictures covered the walls, some I had done myself, others I had found in a calendar, and one my sister had painted for me. Two barn shaped shelves filled with the horse figurines I had collected over the years hung on either side of my bed. A queen sized bed sat in the middle of the room. The shelf headboard held more of my figurines along with my alarm clock. I walked over to the dresser that stood in one corner of my room and pulled out the minion pajamas I had arrived in, which consisted of a yellow, V-neck, short-sleeved shirt with a minion on the front and a pair of pants covered with several different minions. I padded into the bathroom a hopped in the shower. After I was clean, I pulled on my pajamas and brushed my hair, being careful to remove all the tangles. I tossed my dirty clothes into the hamper the TARDIS had provided and proceeded to brush and floss my teeth. When I was done, I pulled back the covers to my bed and climbed in. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, listening to the quiet hum of the TARDIS.
The next morning, I entered the console room wearing a black t-shirt with a Captain America shield on it. "Got another signal," the Doctor said from the console without looking up. "It's weak, but I tracked it to the Powell Estate."
"Let's go then," I said smiling at him. Time to go get attacked by a murderous plastic arm. The Doctor pulled a lever, starting the TARDIS's engines. After we landed, we walked up to the building and started climbing the stairs, the Doctor scanning the air with his sonic screwdriver periodically. We had just gone up another flight of stairs when the Doctor turned down the hall and started examining the doors as we passed. I would have told him which flat it was, but I couldn't remember which flat Rose lived in. He stopped outside one and knelt down in front of it. He poked at the cat flap, but frowned when it didn't move. "Maybe, they nailed it shut," I suggested, watching him as he continued to poke at the flap.
"Why would they nail it shut?" The Doctor asked glancing up at me.
"To keep out strays?" I shrugged. He activated the screwdriver and we heard the faint sound of nails hitting the floor on the other side. "Told you," I said smugly, smirking. The Doctor ignored me and poked at the flap again, this time actually being able to move it to see into the flat. He suddenly stood up as the door flew open.
"What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked, surprised to see Rose standing in the doorway.
"I live here," Rose replied, staring at the Doctor and I.
"Well, what do you do that for?"
"Because I do. I'm only at home because someone blew up my job," she snapped, glaring at the Doctor.
I winced. "Sorry about that," I apologized.
"Must have got the wrong signal," The Doctor muttered as he pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and smacked it on his hand a couple times. "You're not plastic, are you?" The Doctor reached forward and knocked on Rose's forehead. "No, bonehead. Bye, then." He grabbed my hand and started to walk off, but Rose had other ideas.
She reached out and snatched the Doctor's wrist. "You two. Inside. Right now." She tugged the Doctor and I into the flat and shut the door behind us.
"Who is it?" Jackie called from her room. I suppressed a giggle, remembering what was about to happen. This was going to be good.
"It's about last night," Rose lied. "They're part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes." She walked past the Doctor and I.
"She deserves compensation," Jackie called from her room. I walked past the Doctor and stood on the other side of the bedroom door, just out of Jackie's line of vision. There was no way I was going to miss seeing this.
The Doctor paused in the doorway. "Oh. We're talking millions," he replied distractedly, glancing over his shoulder to see where Rose had got to.
Jackie looked around and noticed the Doctor standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She stood up and cleared her throat. "I'm in my dressing gown," she stated matter of factually.
The Doctor looked back at her. "Yes, you are," he replied.
"There's a strange man in my bedroom," Jackie continued, playing with the tie that held her dressing gown closed.
"Yes, there is," the Doctor said, not seeming to get what Jackie was insinuating. I brought a hand to my mouth to suppress another giggle, causing the Doctor to glance at me out of the corner of his eye.
Jackie paused for a moment. "Well, anything could happen," she finished, twirling slightly from side to side.
The Doctor apparently finally understood her intentions as he seemed to think about it for a second, then pulled a face, and replied, "No," and walked past me into the living room. I giggled quietly to myself. He shot me a glare and I grinned at him cheekily.
"Don't mind the mess," Rose said attempting to clean up the clutter scattered around the room. "Do you want coffee?"
"Might as well, thanks. Just milk," the Doctor replied.
"I'm good, thanks," I said, knowing I wouldn't get to drink any with the pending arrival of the plastic arm.
"We should go to the police. Seriously, all three of us." Rose started as she began to make her and the Doctor coffee.
The Doctor looked around the room and spotted a magazine laying on the coffee table. He picked it up a read the cover. "That won't last. He's gay and she's and alien," he muttered quietly. I sat down on the arm of one of the chairs, tuning Rose out as I watched the Doctor.
"I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some joke that went wrong," Rose continued, unaware that no one was actually listening.
The Doctor picked up a book and flipped through the pages. "Hmm. Sad ending," the Doctor sighed, placing the book on the coffee table.
"They said on the news they found a body."
"Rose Tyler," the Doctor read from a piece of mail he grabbed from the table.
I snatched it from him and set it back on the table. "It's rude to look through the people's mail, you know," I scolded him.
He ignored me and instead turned to the mirror hanging on the wall. "Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears," he complained, flicking the oversized appendages in question.
I walked up to him and put my arm on his shoulder, which was somewhat difficult seeing as he was 6' and I was only 5'2. "I think they give you character," I told him.
The Doctor looked at me. "Really?" He asked.
"Yeah," I confirmed, smiling. The Doctor grinned back.
He turned around a picked a pack of cards. "Luck be a lady," he sang as he attempted to shuffle the cards. I let out a snort as the cards went flying everywhere. The Doctor glared at me halfheartedly. "Maybe not," he decided. Both the Doctor and I turned around at the sound of the cat flap rattling. "Have you got a cat?" he asked, but I knew full well what the answer was.
"No," she replied, still occupied with making coffee. The Doctor went over to the couch to investigate the noise.
I grabbed his arm to stop him. "Doctor, I wouldn't do-" I was cut off by the plastic arm launching itself at me and attaching to my neck. I stumbled back as the arm gripped my neck tightly, cutting off my air supply. The Doctor attempted to pull it off, but the arm simply tightened its grip. I gasped, trying to get air into my lungs. My heart pounded as I started panicking.
Rose came in from the kitchen with a mug in each hand. "I told Mickey to chuck that out," she said glancing at the Doctor and I struggling to remove the arm from my neck. "Anyway, I don't even know your names. Elena and Doctor, what was it?" The Doctor and I finally managed to pry the hand off my neck and flung it across the room where it stopped in midair and proceeded to attach itself to Rose's face. The Doctor rushed over to help Rose while I coughed as I drew in gaping breaths, filling my aching, oxygen starved lungs with precious air. Once I had managed to catch my breath somewhat, I scrambled to help the Doctor and Rose. Rose was standing against the wall while the Doctor pulled on the arm. I grabbed hold of the arm and tugged. Unfortunately, the Doctor and I's combined weight pulled Rose off balance and all three of us toppled over, crashing into the coffee table. I winced slightly as a piece of glass cut my arm. Jackie couldn't hear anything going on as over the constant roar of her hair dryer.
With a final tug, the Doctor pulled the plastic arm off and quickly deactivated it with his sonic screwdriver. "It's alright, I've stopped it. There, you see? Armless," he said, triumphantly waving the arm in Rose's face.
She snatched the killer plastic arm. "You think?" She then proceeded to hit him in the arm with it.
"Ow!" The Doctor yelped. He rubbed the spot where Rose hit him as I laughed. He glared at me. The Doctor snatched the arm back from Rose and offered me a hand. I smiled and took it and followed him out the door. Rose quickly grabbed her jacket and dashed after us.
"Hold on!" She yelled as she followed us down the stairs. "You can't just go swanning off."
"Yes, we can," the Doctor retorted, "Here we are. This is us swanning off. See you."
"But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me!" Rose cried indignantly.
"You're just a regular Sherlock Holmes, aren't you?" I quipped sarcastically.
"You can't just walk away! That's not fair! You got to tell me what's going on!" Boy, she sure was stubborn.
"No, we don't," the Doctor said. We reached the bottom of the stairs and began walking down the street.
"Alright then," she started. "I'll got to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said if I did that I would get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "That would go over well. That's right, officer, I was attacked by a shop window dummies," I said mockingly. "You'd be institutionalized." Rose pointedly ignored me and kept her eyes on the Doctor.
"Is that supposed to sound tough?" The Doctor inquired.
"Sort of."
"Doesn't work."
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I told you. I'm the Doctor and this is Elena." The Doctor said, gesturing to me.
"Hello!" I said, waving happily at her.
"Yeah, but Doctor what?"
I pouted. "I like it when they say Doctor who," I muttered.
"Just the Doctor," the Doctor replied with a small shrug.
"The Doctor," Rose repeated skeptically.
"Hello!" the Doctor said cheerfully, waving at her.
Rose raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to sound impressive?"
"Sort off," he replied, still grinning. Since force wasn't working, Rose switched to a different tactic.
"Come on, then. You can tell me," she said softly, still walking next to the Doctor. "I've seen enough. Are you police?" I smiled at that, thinking back to the TARDIS and what she was disguised as.
"No, we were just passing through," the Doctor replied. "We're a long way from home."
"But what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?" Rose questioned.
"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just and accident. You got in the way, that's all." The Doctor retorted.
I smacked his arm. "Rude," I scolded.
"It tried to kill me," Rose pointed out angrily.
"It was after us, not you," I told her.
"Last night, in the shop, we were there, you blunder in, almost ruined the whole thing," the Doctor told her. I smacked him again, but he ignored me and continued. "This morning, we were tracking it down, it was tracking us down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met us."
"So, what you saying is, the entire world revolves around you," Rose said sarcastically.
"Sort of, yeah." He replied grinning.
"You're full of it!" Rose laughed.
I laughed too. "Yeah, he is." The Doctor mock glared at me, causing me to grin cheekily at him.
"But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?"
"Just us," I replied.
"What you're on your own?" Rose asked incredulously.
"Who else is there?" The Doctor asked. "I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."
"Okay. Start from the beginning," Rose said, snatching the plastic arm from the Doctor's grip. "I mean if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't believe that, but if we do, how do we kill it?"
"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm." The Doctor explained. "I cut off the signal, dead."
"So that's radio control?"
"Thought control," I corrected. "You okay?"
"Yeah. So, who's controlling it then?" Rose inquired.
"Long story," the Doctor replied.
"But, what's it all for? I mean, the shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"
"No," I laughed.
"No," Rose agreed, also laughing.
"It's not a price war," the Doctor chuckled and "Price Tag" by Jessie J. popped into my head. The Doctor then turned serious. "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?"
"No"
"You're still listening," I pointed out.
"Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?" Rose called as she had stopped walking.
The Doctor turned to look at her. "Do you know like we were saying, about the earth revolving?" The Doctor asked. "It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it..." He reached down and grabbed her hand while I stood off to the side awkwardly, taking the time to inspect the cut I received from falling into the coffee table. "The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world. And, if we let go..." The Doctor released Rose's hand, allowing it to fall to her side. "That's who I am. Now, forget us Rose Tyler." He reached out and grabbed the plastic arm from her. "Go home." He turned around and walked back towards me. He grabbed my hand as he passed and gently tugged me towards the TARDIS. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door, pulling me inside. He set the arm on the jump seat, pressed a few buttons, and sent us into the Time Vortex. He was quiet for a moment before turning to me. He held out his hand. "Let me see your arm," he said. I held out my arm for him and he inspected the cut carefully.
"Will I live, Doc?" I asked in mock concern.
The Doctor looked up from his inspection. "Well, good news is, we won't have to amputate it," he joked. "But I will need to clean and bandage it so it won't get infected. Come on." He took my hand and led me down the hall to the med bay. The med bay was a decent sized room with pristine, glossy walls of bright white. It reminded me of a hospital, but nicer. A row of six beds lined one wall, each with its own set of monitors. On another wall stood a set of cupboards containing various medical supplies, some from earth and some not. The Doctor sat me on the bed closest to the cupboards and proceeded to pull out supplies. He turned around with some cleaning wipes, gauze, medical wrap, and a strange smelling, pale green cream. He placed the supplies on the bed next to me and picked up the wipes. I winced as the alcohol from the wipes stung my cut. The Doctor muttered a quiet 'sorry' before continuing in his task. "There you go," he said, patting my knee to signal he was done.
I grinned and jumped down from the bed, ready to continue the adventure. "Right, now what?" I asked, following him back to the console room with childish glee.
The Doctor picked up the plastic arm and began plugging it into the console. "I'm going to try and find the origin of the signal." I plopped myself down in the jump seat and watched as he dashed around the console to push a series of buttons. After of few minutes he groaned in frustration.
"What is it?" I questioned.
"The arm is to primitive. I can't get a lock on," he sighed. "We'll have to find something better."
"Would a head work?"
"Yeah, but I don't know where we'll find another living plastic. It's not like I can dictate when and where the signal is transported," he replied.
"And I thought you knew everything." I teased. He shot me an unamused look. "It's a good thing I'm here, then. It just so happens that a certain Rose Tyler is having lunch at a pizza place with her boyfriend."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly does that help?" He asked skeptically. "I'm not exactly interested in what Rose is currently doing."
I smiled. "Well, it just so happens that her boyfriend has been turned into plastic."
The Time Lord blinked. "Oh, that does help."
"Thought so," I said, smiling cheekily.
"Right then," the Doctor said, pulling a lever, "let's go say hello."
We landed at the back of the restaurant and walked inside. The staff watched us pass with raised eyebrows. When we got to the main dining area the Doctor grabbed a bottle of champagne. "Right you stay here and I'll go get the plastic." I nodded in understanding. He waltzed over to the table where Rose and her plastic boyfriend sat.
"You can tell me anything," plastic Mickey was saying. "Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart." As plastic Mickey talked, he twitched violently and his voice changed with every word. I shook my head in disbelief. How could Rose not see that he was obviously not her boyfriend?
"What're doing that for?" Rose inquired, staring concernedly at plastic Mickey.
"Your champagne," the Doctor announced, holding out the bottle to plastic Mickey.
"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" Plastic Mickey demanded.
"Madam, you champagne," the Doctor tried again, walking to Rose's side of the table.
Rose waved the Doctor off, too concerned with her strangely acting boyfriend to even look up. "It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose questioned, placing a hand over plastic Mickey's hand. Seriously, Rose?
"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" Plastic Mickey pressed.
"Doesn't anyone want this champagne?" The Doctor asked dejectedly.
Plastic Mickey rolled his eyes. "Look, we didn't order it." Annoyed, plastic Mickey looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the Doctor. "Ah! Gotcha!" He exclaimed, grinning.
The Doctor began vigorously shaking the champagne bottle. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house." The Doctor aimed the bottle at plastic Mickey and pulled the cork. The cork disappeared into plastic Mickey's forehead and Rose stared, horrified.
After a moment, plastic Mickey spit the cork out. "Anyway," he said. His hand morphed into a mallet and he smashed the table in half. The customers started screaming as the Doctor grabbed plastic Mickey by the head and gave it a few good tugs. Plastic Mickey's head came off with a pop and the Doctor stumbled back a few steps. Suddenly, the head's eyes shot open. "Don't think that's going to stop me," the head declared with a demented smile, causing the couple at the table next to the Doctor to scream. The body stood up and began smashing more tables.
"That's my cue," I mumbled, smashing the fire alarm next to me. "Everyone out!" I yelled. People screamed and fell over each other in their haste to get outside. "Come on!" I yelled at the Doctor. He ran after me, closely followed by Rose. We ran back through the kitchen, all the while the plastic body smashed and ran into things behind us. We made it out the back door and I helped the Doctor hold the door closed as he used the sonic screwdriver to lock the door. Rose ran over to a metal gate at the other end of the alley.
"Open the gate! Use that tube thing! Come on!" Rose panicked, rattling the locked chain link gate.
"Sonic screwdriver," I corrected.
"Use it!"
"Nah," the Doctor replied, strolling over to the TARDIS. "Let's go in here." I pulled out my TARDIS key and unlocked the door. Plastic Mickey banged even louder on the door.
"You can't hide inside a wooden box," Rose shouted. "It's going to get us! Doctor! Elena!" I heard Rose shake the gates again before she came running into the TARDIS. She took one look at the console room and ran back out. I chuckled, shaking my head. I heard the auton smash down the door just as Rose came bolting back inside. She looked around in disbelief. "It's going to follow us!"
The Doctor scoffed. "The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me they've tried."
"I'd like to hear the story behind that," I commented from my place in the jump seat.
"I'll have to tell you it sometime," the Doctor replied. "Now shut up a minute," he told Rose. He walked around the console and plugged several different wires into the plastic head. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head is perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to its original source. Right," the Doctor said as he finished wiring the head to the console. "Where do you want to start?"
"Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?" Rose said uncertainly.
"Yes," the Doctor replied, crossing his arms.
"It's alien."
"Yeah."
"Are you two aliens?" She asked us.
"Well, I'm not, but he is," I informed her, gesturing to myself then the Doctor.
"Is that alright?" The Doctor questioned.
"Yeah," Rose quickly affirmed.
"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T. A. R. D. I. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space," the Doctor told her. Rose brought a hand up to her mouth as she choked out a sob. I quickly jumped down from my perch and walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us," the Doctor said nonchalantly. I sent him a glare.
"Did they kill him?" Rose asked furiously. "Mickey. Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" I rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Oh, I didn't think of that," the Doctor said sheepishly. I rolled my eyes at him. After seeing all of time and space, he was still dense.
"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you just going to let him melt?" Rose yelled.
"Melt?" The Doctor looked at the head confusedly. The plastic head had begun to melt onto the console. Oops. Guess I forgot about that part. I hope the TARDIS wasn't too upset about melted plastic in her circuitry. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" He ran around the console and started pulling levers and pressing buttons.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked as she and I struggled to keep our balance. We gripped tightly to the railing as the TARDIS shook and pitched about.
"I'm following the signal," the Doctor replied. "It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" We landed with one final jolt and the Doctor and I ran out the door.
"You can't go out there. It's not safe!" Rose shouted after us. She ran out after us and paused to examine her surroundings with wide eyes.
"I lost the signal," the Doctor said dejectedly. I patted his arm comfortingly. "I got so close."
"We've moved," Rose stated. "Does it fly?"
"It disappears there and reappears here," I explained.
"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." Rose said worriedly.
"Melted with the head," the Doctor dismissed. "Are you going to witter on all night?"
"Rude," I scolded, smacking his arm.
Rose ran a hand through her hair. "I'll have to tell his mother." The Doctor gave her a blank look. "Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother that he's dead and you just went and forgot him, again! Your right, you are alien." Rose spat angrily.
The Doctor glared at her. "Look if I did forget about some kid called Mickey-"
"Yeah, he's not a kid!"
"Doctor," I growled in warning, but he ignored me.
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right? The Doctor yelled.
"All right!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Please don't fight, kids," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose at their childishness. The Doctor and Rose were silent for a moment.
"If you're alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?" Rose inquired.
"Lots of planets have a north," the Doctor stated indignantly.
"And where are you from?" Rose asked me. "You from America?"
"Yeah, Virginia," I told her, smiling at the memory of home. "Well, that's where I was living before I came here. I'm from a military family, so we moved all over the U.S."
"What's a police public call box?" Rose said while glancing at the TARDIS.
"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise," I answered with a loving smile for Sexy.
Rose nodded. "Okay, and this, this living plastic? What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you," the Doctor replied, "You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil. Plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner." He mimed eating food.
"Any way of stopping it?" The blonde asked hopefully.
The Doctor held up a vial of blue liquid. "Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic," Rose repeated.
"Very original," I commented.
The Doctor once again ignored me. "Anti-plastic. But first I got to find it. How can you find something that big in a city this small?" He started pacing slowly.
"The transmitter," I explained to Rose, who looked completely lost. "The Consciousness is controlling every piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
"What's it look like?" Rose asked.
"Like a transmitter." The Doctor replied.
"Yeah, that helps," I said sarcastically.
"Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London," the Doctor clarified. "A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." He stopped directly in front of the London Eye. I nudged Rose and gestured to it with my head. We both stared at the massive, round ferris wheel. "What?" He questioned, looking between us. We raised our eyebrows, eyes still in the London Eye. The Doctor spun around trying to see what we were staring at. He turned back around not getting it. "What?" I gestured toward the London Eye with my head. He spun back around, but it still didn't click. "What is it? What?"
I started giggling. "You know, for someone who is so clever, you can be very dense sometimes," I told him, shaking my head. The Doctor turned back around and it finally seemed to click. "Penny in the air," I giggled.
"Oh." He spun back around, looked at the London Eye again, before facing us. "Fantastic," he said, grinning widely.
I laughed. "And the penny drops." The Doctor grabbed mine and Rose's hands and took off toward the London Eye. We stopped underneath the London Eye.
"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come to life. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables," the Doctor said, turning around.
"The breast implants," Rose added, causing me to snort.
"Still, we found the transmitter," the Doctor continued, still looking around. "The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."
I peeked over the railing and spotted a man hole cover. "Should we try there?" The Doctor looked to see where I was pointing.
"Looks good to me," the Doctor grinned. The Doctor, Rose, and I climbed down the ladder and the Doctor opened the cover.
"After you, time boy," I gestured to the hole.
The Doctor looked at me, furrowing his brows. "Time boy?" I simply shrugged. He shook his head and climbed down the hole followed by me and then Rose. Once we had reached the bottom, we walked over to the rusted railing and looked down to see the Nestene Consciousness churning in a vat. "The Nestene Consciousness, that's it inside the vat. A living plastic creature."
"Well, then, tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Rose told him.
"We can't just kill it. We have to give it a chance, Rose," I informed her.
The Doctor walked onto the catwalk. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor addressed the churning plastic. The living plastic growled and churned in its vat. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" The thing growled again and the Doctor and I walked down the catwalk.
Rose then turned and noticed a cowering Mickey. "Oh, gosh! Mickey!" She bolted down the stairs. "It's me. It's okay. It's all right." She did her best to comfort him as he clung to her desperately.
"That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" Mickey gasped as he shook with terror.
"You're stinking. Doctor, Elena, they kept him alive!" Rose shouted at us excitedly.
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy," the Doctor mused without worry.
"You knew that and you never said?" Rose demanded in irritation.
"Sorry about that. I meant to say something." I apologized awkwardly.
"Can we keep the domestics outside, thanks?" The Doctor snapped. The Doctor and I stopped just above the vat. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" The Consciousness growled. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest with the greatest respect that you shunt off," he grinned, rather proud of the pun he just made. The Consciousness growled again. "Oh, don't give me that! It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights," the Doctor replied angrily. The Consciousness started throwing a fit. "I am talking!" The Consciousness quieted down. "This planet is just starting. These stupid people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go," the Doctor begged.
"Doctor! Elena!" Rose yelled. Suddenly the Doctor and I were grabbed by autons.
'Crap!' I thought. 'How could I forget this part?' One of the autons holding the Doctor dug through his pockets and pulled out the vial of anti-plastic.
The Doctor began to panic as the Consciousness screeched. "That was just for insurance," he said, trying to defend himself. "I wasn't going to use it. I wasn't attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." The Consciousness growled again. "What do you mean?" A door on the level above us moved aside to reveal the TARDIS and my eyes widened. The Doctor became frantic. "No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship." The Consciousness growled once again. "That's not true! I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"
"What's it doing?" Rose questioned.
"It's the TARDIS," the Doctor rapidly explained. "The Nestene Consciousness had identified its superior technology. It's terrified! It's going to the final phase! It's starting the invasion!"
"Rose, run! Get out of here!" I yelled at her. Instead of running, Rose phoned her mother. Seriously, she had to do that now?! I couldn't hear what she was saying over the roar of the Nestene and I groaned in frustration, still struggling to get free of the autons. Suddenly, a bolt of blue electricity shot into the ceiling.
"It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!" The Doctor panicked. The Nestene continued to roar and thrash inside its vat.
"Rose, just run!" I urged again.
"The stairs have gone!" Rose complained. The autons attempted to push the Doctor and I into the vat. I struggled, doing my best to try and get away, but their grip was too strong. My eyes widened and I panicked as the autons pushed me closer and closer to the vat.
"We're going to die!" I heard Mickey yell. Explosions went on around us, causing sparks and pieces of metal to fly everywhere. The autons continued to push the Doctor and I toward the edge. I paused in my struggling as I heard a gravelly voice say 'Timelord'.
"Doctor!" I yelled, scuffling my feet against the floor in an attempt to stop the autons from tossing me overboard. I couldn't die now! The show had only just begun. I mean, of the all the things that could kill me in this universe, I was NOT going to die by plastic window dummies.
"No!" The Doctor yelled as he continued to try and throw off the auton holding him. His eyes widened when he saw how close I was to the edge of the vat. Just then, Rose swung by on a chain, knocking over the auton that was holding the Doctor. She swung back towards us and knocked the one holding me into the vat. Unfortunately, it attempted to grab me as it fell and caused me to lose my balance. I screamed as I began to fall into the churning vat below me. I managed to grab hold of the edge and keep myself from falling into the vat. The Nestene screeched as the anti-plastic vial burst on top of it.
"Doctor!" I screamed. He appeared above me.
"Hold on, Elena!" He yelled over the screaming Nestene.
I readjusted my grip. "What do you think I'm doing?" I retorted. He reached down, grabbed hold of my wrists and pulled me up.
He pulled me into a tight hug. "I've got you," he murmured while hugging me tightly. He let go, but grabbed my hand and pulled me back up the stairs to the TARDIS. He leaned around Mickey, who was still cowering by the TARDIS doors, and unlocked the doors. Mickey couldn't get through the doors fast enough and nearly fell flat on his face trying to get in. I would've laughed if it hadn't been for the situation at hand. The Doctor darted to the console and pulled a lever. Rose crouched by Mickey, doing her best to comfort him. Mickey bolted out the door as soon as we landed. Rose walked out a bit more calmly. The Doctor and I stood in the TARDIS doorway with me leaning my arm against his arm.
"Fat lot of good you were." Rose told Mickey as he latched onto her once again.
"Nestene Conscience? Easy." The Doctor snapped his fingers at 'easy'.
"You two were useless in there. You would be dead if it wasn't for me," she said pointing to herself.
"Yes, we would," the Doctor admitted. "Thank you. Right then, we'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with us."
"This beautiful blue box isn't just a London hopper," I said, patting the TARDIS fondly. "It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge." 'Though she does seem to have a liking of modern day England,' I added in my head.
"Don't. They're aliens. They're things," Mickey accused.
I turned my gaze to him. "For your information, Mickey Smith, only the Doctor is alien. I'm human, thank you very much," I declared, glaring at Mickey. He hid further behind Rose's legs. "Not that I would mind being a Time Lord. Having two hearts would be kind of cool," I mussed.
"He's not invited," the Doctor added, nodding to the cowering Mickey. "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."
Rose stared at the Doctor and I could practically see the gears in her head turning as she contemplated the possibility of traveling through space. "Is it always this dangerous?"
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. Mickey wrapped his arms around Rose's legs.
"Yeah, I can't. I, er, I've got to go find my mum and someone's got to look after this lump, so..." She trailed off, patting Mickey's back.
The Doctor seemed to deflate. "Okay, see you around." He walked back into the TARDIS and shut the door. He trudged up to the console and moodily pulled a couple of levers. The familiar wheezing of the TARDIS engines started as I walked up to him lazily.
"You know," I started, my hands held behind my back. "I don't think I mentioned that the TARDIS can travel in time." The Doctor looked up at me and I grinned at him. He stared at me for a moment before grinning back and sending us back.
We landed and the Doctor poked his head out the door. "By the way, did we mention it also travels in time?" He pulled his head back inside and walked back towards me, grinning knowingly. Sure enough, a moment later Rose came running into the TARDIS and we took off into the Time Vortex.
Please review and let me know your thoughts.